As MPCC chief takes charge, partymen train guns on Rane

While praising party chief Sonia Gandhi, various speakers, without naming Rane — who was present on the dais and was not permitted to speak — talked about how to rise within the ranks in the party. They took a dig at Rane for being impatient and going to town over his obsession for a particular position — the chief ministership.

Newly appointed chief of the party’s election campaign committee Gurudas Kamat said, “Everyone doesn’t get the chair he aspires for. Everyone should think about Soniaji’s sacrifice and be careful to ensure that he doesn’t damage the party through any action or word. Nobody gets anything in the Congress in haste.”

He claimed that groupism in the party was an “old disease”, but there was a need to unite for the party.

Referring to the issue of Marathi being raised by several parties in Mumbai, he said, “Everyone coming to Mumbai is a Mumbaikar. Some people deliberately try to divide people on the basis of region and language, more so on the eve of elections, but Congress doesn’t believe in such divisions as the Constitution has granted right to every citizen to move and settle anywhere in the country.”

Rane had not attended a similar function two days ago, when the newly appointed Mumbai unit chief Kripashankar Singh had assumed office.