Rane resigns, flays Chavan's leadership

Clarifies he does not want to be part of the Congress party's rout in assembly poll

Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane on Monday gave his resignation to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, saying he didn’t want to be part of the Congress rout in the Assembly elections slated for September-October. Chavan is yet to accept Rane’s resignation and invited him for further talks.

At a press conference, Rane said Chavan can’t lead the Congress to victory in the Assembly polls. About Congress debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, Rane said Chavan failed to counter the aggressive campaigning by the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party. Apart from this, the poor track record of the state government had also contributed to the drubbing. Despite the rout, the chief minister has hardly taken any corrective steps to revive the party, Rane said.

Rane, accompanied by his sons Nilesh and Nitesh, however, clarified that he was not staging any rebellion but only venting his feelings. He also said he would continue to be in the Congress and it was up to the CM to take a decision on his resignation. Rane also said he has not taken a call to join any party or float a new outfit, adding a decision in this regard would be taken after CM accepted his resignation.

Rane, sulking after the humiliating defeat of his son and the party nominee Nilesh Rane from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat in the Lok Sabha poll, said the government lacks action and there was no control on the bureaucracy.

“A slew of projects and files are not being cleared despite repeated reminders. There has been hardly any action to curb corruption. This apart, I am quite upset in the Congress as the high command did not keep their word. I waited for nine years and yet I was not elevated to the chief minister's post as promised. My supporting legislators were not inducted in the ministry nor my supporters were appointed on various government undertakings,” he said.