Narayan Rane set to resign as Maharashtra Industries Minister

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane in a meeting with his department officials on Thursday said that he would be resigning as a minister from the Cabinet, but would continue to be with Congress, once again making his displeasure clear with the state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

The rumblings within the party are getting ominous, especially with assembly elections barely a few months away. Rane’s impromptu message was clearly not meant for his department employees, but for the Congress leadership.

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Rane didn’t want to comment on his future plans but said, “My future political plans will be known to you on Monday.”

Rane has been making noises for the past few months, threatening to quit the party. The former chief minister has many grouses against the Congress, the main being the continuance of Chavan as the CM of the state. Rane has been extremely vocal about removing Chavan from the post, and has been warning the party leadership that it would be disastrous for Congress if Chavan continued to lead the party in the state. But Congress has not taken his threats seriously, and even told him to toe the party line. The party is sceptical of Rane because he himself is vying for the CM’s post.

Besides, the fact that Rane’s son Nitesh lost the Lok Sabha seat from the party’s traditional stronghold in Konkan didn’t go down well with the bosses. When Rane realised that he won’t be made CM, he wanted to be the state Congress chief. He also sought to be made the campaign in-charge for the assembly polls. But the party has not taken any decision on this yet since there are other contenders for the post.

Congress leaders said that Rane’s threat of resigning and him ‘leaking’ the news was meant to extract certain concessions from the leadership. He also decided to undertake a three-day tour of the Konkan to meet his supporters