Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane on Thursday quit the Congress amid speculation that he was planning to join the BJP. This also ends Rane’s decade-long association with the party. Announcing that he has quit the party, Rane accused the Congress of reneging on its promise of making him the chief minister after he joined the party 12 years ago, PTI reported. Rane lashed out at the Congress for not giving him his due and said that there will be ‘mass exodus’ across districts in the Congress. Indian Express quoted Rane saying, “There will be mass exodus across districts in the Congress (in Maharashtra). I’ll empty out the party.”
The Congress had challenged the support of 14 of the Congress’s 42 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly. Similarlt, he threatened the Shiv Sena too claiming that claiming that 27 Sena MLAs were in touch with him. He also stepped down from the Maharashtra Legislative Council, where he represents the Congress. The Maratha leader, who was the chief minister in 1999 while in the Shiv Sena, told a press meet here he had also resigned as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). Rane said he was yet to decided on his next move.
The conjecture about Rane joining the BJP was triggered by reports suggesting he had met BJP president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago, PTI reported. Rane said Nilesh Rane, his son and former Congress MP, had also resigned from the party. His other son Nitesh, a Congress MLA, had not quit yet, Rane said.
Rane lashed out at the Congress for not giving him his due and said that there will be ‘mass exodus’ across districts in the Congress. (PTI)
