How Cong forced Rane to eat humble pie

He is persona non grata among every party, including Congress, which he wanted to desert

Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane is a street-smart politician. But his latest resignation drama has gone horribly wrong.

Rane — who rebelled against Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, saying he did not want to be a party to a huge defeat staring at the Congress under the inept leadership of Chavan in the coming Assembly elections — had to eat humble pie and withdraw his resignation, even though Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi did not offer him anything more than a cup of tea and sympathies during their meeting.

Political observers say Rane, who left the Shiv Sena to join the Congress in July 2005, quickly realised that he had limited political options.

Rane did try his luck elsewhere, but in vain. His friendship with Union minister Nitin Gadkari did not help him gain entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its state unit and the Shiv Sena strongly opposed the move. Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray ruled out re-admitting him into his party fold.

Rane also realised that the formation of a political party or converting Swabhiman Sanghatana, run by his younger son Nitesh Rane, into a political outfit would not yield any result in such a limited time, as the Assembly elections are slated for October.

Congress insiders say Rane’s sons, Nilesh and Nitesh, wanted their father to be more assertive, especially after the party faced rout in the general elections. Both convinced their father not to retire from electoral politics at this juncture and contest the ensuing Assembly polls. They used Rane’s clout to spread their wings and were eager to make further inroads into politics and pursue business interests.

Rane, after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi and a telephonic conversation with Sonia Gandhi, made up his mind to stay with the Congress and continue to perform as industries minister.

“In politics, you should adjust. If I had become soft, I would not have resigned,” Rane said.

The Congress high command had rejected all his demands. He wanted the party to make him president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee ahead of the elections.  His second demand was that he should be made chief minister in the run-up to the Assembly polls. But the party refused to entertain both his demands. The only respite he got was that the party leaders had promised him that they would give him “due respect”.