Rane said the Thackeray government's promise of loan waiver for farmers is "hollow", as there is no timeline on when it will be implemented. (File) As widely anticipated, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane, known for his constant verbal duel with Shiv Sena, made it to the Modi cabinet on Wednesday. In fact, he was the first newly-inducted minister to take the oath. Rane took oath as the cabinet minister, which makes it his maiden entry into the union cabinet after serving as chief minister and minister in Maharashtra ministries in the last 25 years.
Rane’s inclusion in the Cabinet is being seen as an attempt to spite the Sena, which dumped BJP and tied up with Congress and NCP to form government in Maharashtra in 2019. BJP has since then been sulking and has made several overtures to the Sena which has however stuck to its new arrangement. However, both BJP and Shiv Sena underplayed Rane’s inclusion. While BJP said it had nothing to do with Shiv Sena, on the other hand, Sena leaders said it was the Prime Minister’s prerogative as to who should be in his ministry and who should be out of it.
“Rane is a senior BJP leader and his inclusion in the ministry has nothing to do with his relationship with Shiv Sena. He has not been included in the ministry because of his verbal assault against the Sena but because he had been an able chief minister of Maharashtra,” said BJP leader Raosaheb Danve, who too has managed to retain his berth in the Modi Ministry which was expanded on Wednesday. Besides Rane, three other MPs from Maharashtra including Kapil Patil, Dr Bhagwat Karad and Bharati Pawar made it to the Modi Ministry. Danve also said Rane’s inclusion should not be seen in the light of BJP-Sena relations.
Rane was in Shiv Sena until 2005 when he quit the party and joined the Congress. Before that during the BJP-Shiv Sena regime of 1995-99, he had served as the chief minister for a year after Manohar Joshi resigned as the chief minister.
Echoing Danve’s views, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut told The Indian Express, “I don’t think Rane has been included in the ministry to slight Shiv Sena. It is PM’s privilege who to include in his ministry or who to be left out,” he added.
Asked whether this will further widen the already soured relations between BJP and Shiv Sena, Raut said, “The question does not arise at all. They (BJP) are treading on their path, we have taken our own path. We are now part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government. And they are continuing with the NDA.”
After taking the oath, Rane himself refused to comment on the matter. “I don’t know whether I have been included in the ministry to blight Shiv Sena…But one thing is certain, I have taken oath as the minister,” he said. “I have served as MLA for six terms and have been the chief minister of the state,” he said.
Raut also denied that he had met BJP leader Ashish Shelar a few days back in a bid to improve BJP-Sena ties. “I did not meet BJP leader Ashish Shelar..these are false speculations,” he said, scothing speculations that BJP and Sena were trying to mend fences.
Another Shiv Sena leader Kishore Tiwari said Rane’s inclusion into the ministry will backfire on PM Modi. “Rane is like a ZP block leader. He was nobody before Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray made him a chief minister. He stabbed the man who made him big…Wherever Rane goes, he creates a mess…The Modi Ministry will meet the same fate,” said Tiwari.
Meanwhile, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, while welcoming the inclusion of four MPs in the ministry, said non-exclusion of Pritam Munde, who won the last Lok Sabha seat by the highest margin of votes in the country and inclusion of Karad is an attempt to embarrass the family of Gopinath Munde, who was the “Bahujan” face of BJP. “The cabinet expansion has done injustice to the Munde family…At least Pritam Munde, the record-breaker, should have got an opportunity,” said NCP State spokesperson Umesh Patil, adding that out of the four MPs who were given ministerial berths, three are from NCP-Congress while only was an original BJP leader.
Patil, however, said Rane’s inclusion is because of his seniority and the fact that he has also served as the chief minister. “Rane’s inclusion as well the inclusion of three ministers from Maharashtra is a welcome decision. We are happy with the PM’s move to do justice to Maharashtra,” he said.
Describing the cabinet expansion as a meaningless exercise, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, “The expansion of Modi Ministry is nothing but adding a few more heads to shift the blame of unprecedented failure. A shaky economy, skyrocketing inflation, women being humiliated, unemployed and helpless youth, angry farmers, soldiers in danger, growing terrorism in Kashmir, the third wave of the Covid-19 and impending disaster are some of the issues the country is facing today. In such a situation, the issue of cabinet expansion is meaningless because no matter how many masks are changed, the truth can not be hidden. The truth is that this government is being run by only one and a half people. One Modi and half Amit Shah! Rest are musical chairs!”
Sawant said these ministers will not have much work except trolling. So we will keep asking questions to PM Modi and Shah who are sitting on one chair and half stool. They don’t have time to talk to the agitating farmers, to plan a fight against the third wave of Covid-19. There is no time to call an all-party meeting. But it is clear that they have time for playing the cabinet expansion game with party hoppers and power-hungry leaders in such a massive crisis for humanity. This is the real face of the Modi government. The common man who is fighting for his life has nothing to do with the Modi government’s game of power.”
Meanwhile, Rane’s at his first press conference after taking the oath said, “I will live up to the confidence shown by the Prime Minister and the party in me. I am grateful to the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the party president for making me a minister.”
Rane blamed the Maharashtra government for failure to get reservations for the Maratha community. “The Maharashtra government is to be blamed for Marathas not getting reservation…,” he said. On being the first to take the oath, Rane said it could be because of his seniority and that he had served as the chief minister.
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