Cong walks tightrope, tries to woo Rane

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, AUGUST 8 : Even as top leadership of the Congress continued efforts to pacify Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane who has launched a fresh tirade against Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the party on Friday disapproved of his decision to go public about the deliberations in the state Cabinet regarding allotment of land to a company.

“Whatever might be the issue, matters raised in the Cabinet should not be brought outside, and whatever issues have to be brought up should be done in party fora and with the leadership,” AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said at a press briefing.

He said differing with the party leaders and the Cabinet decision was not a crime. “However, there is a mechanism to air grievances on the party platform,” said the spokesperson. Asked whether disciplinary action would be taken against Rane, Ahmed said party president Sonia Gandhi was away in China and any decision would be taken only after she returned.

Rane had sent a letter to the party president a few weeks back offering to resign from the state Cabinet if his demand for a change of guard in the state was not met. The high command, said to be in no mood to oblige the former Shiv Sena leader on this issue, is yet to take a decision on Rane’s fate.

Rane had on Thursday met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Margaret Alva and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, to press for his demands. While he has been conveyed the high command’s decision not to remove the CM, as a conciliatory gesture, Rane has been offered the post of Campaign Committee chairperson or PCC chief, two ministries in the state Cabinet and two important boards for his supporters, according to sources. The Revenue Minister has so far refused to relent though.

On Friday, Rane visited Solapur to attend a farmers’ rally. He is also scheduled to attend the felicitation of his mentor Prabha Rau in Kolhapur on Saturday. Rau — the former president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) who was appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh last month — had inducted him into the Congress in 2005.

Political observers feel Rane seems to be consolidating his position among his workers to project himself as a victim of a tyrannical ruler (Deshmukh) who is unconcerned about the masses and is only worried about the elite. Rane, who managed to win over...

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