Don't admit Narayan Rane into BJP: Udhav Thackeray

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray has asked BJP president Amit Shah not to admit Congress rebel Narayan Rane into BJP. Within hours of Rane quitting the Prithiviraj Chavan cabinet in Maharashtra on Monday, Thackeray telephoned the BJP president and conveyed his party’s opposition to any move by BJP to admit Rane, a Sena renegade who was once the party’s chief minister before he quit to join Congress, a Sena leader told ET.

“Udhavji telephoned Amit Shah on Monday evening and made it clear that BJP should not admit Narayan Rane who is exploring options outside Congress. Rane is a betrayer of Bal Thackeray who made him the chief minister of the Sena-BJP government. We will not accept a betrayer and a deserter,” a top Sena leader told ET in Delhi. Asked what was Amit Shah’s response to Uddhav Thackeray’s demand, the Sena source said, “Amit Shah has assured Uddavji that BJP will not admit Rane.”

The quick Sena caveat against any move by its ally to woo Rane comes in the wake indications that a section of BJP feels Rane could be a good catch for it, given his political base, mass appeal and political dynamism. The ‘Rane angle’ comes in the wake of the state BJP and Sena locked in a hard-bargaining over the seat-sharing formula for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra and the question of which party should get the chief ministership should the alliance capture power in Maharasahtra.

By telephoning Shah, the Sena chief appeared to be indicating that any move of BJP could hit the alliance with Sena. As Rane has spurned Chavan’s peace overtures in Mumbai on Tuesday, a section of senior Congress leaders were advocating a cautious move to deal with the raging rebellion in its Maharasahtra and Assam units. Chavan and Rahul Gandhi having burnt their political bridges with Rane, another section of senior leaders are advocating the need for using persuasive skills of Sonia Gandhi to make one last effort to avert the exit of Rane.