The taming of Narayan Rane

When the former chief minister of Maharashtra, Narayan Rane, crossed over to the Congress from the Shiv Sena in 2005...

When the former chief minister of Maharashtra, Narayan Rane, crossed over to the Congress from the Shiv Sena in 2005, little did he realise that despite his best efforts to prove his worth to his new party, he would have to wait patiently and temper his fiery outbursts to achieve his goals. But he seems to have got the message finally. So, when the Congress high command gave a thumbs-up to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Rane who has been his vocal critic all along, chose to tone down his rhetoric and evade the subject.

Three years ago, Rane engineered the defections of seven Shiv Sena MLAs to the Congress, of which six were re-elected on Congress tickets. That did the trick for the Congress, which had been belittled by its ally—and rival—the NCP in the 2004 assembly polls. The NCP had emerged as the single-largest party with 71 seats and the Congress had won 69 in the House of 288. Rane’s efforts took the Congress numbers to 75, four more than the NCP.

He became the blue-eyed boy of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Prabha Rau and the AICC incharge of the state, Margaret Alva. His efforts also got him into the good books of the Congress high command.

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Euphoric over his success, Rane expected quick rewards from the Congress. Since he was the chief minister in 1999 during the Sena-BJP regime (1995-99), Rane considered himself the best candidate to head the existing Congress-led coalition government in the state.

His outspoken attitude and impatience to become chief minister made Deshmukh detractors flock to him. These included Rau and Alva. Last year, Rau commissioned seven party fact-finding committees on issues like farmers’ suicides, malnutrition and power crisis. Most of these panels were critical of the government, indicating that the state was not being governed properly. Rane and Rau have made frequent visits to Delhi and Alva to Maharashtra, each time fuelling speculations of a change of guard.

While Rau and Alva have been making guarded attacks on Deshmukh, Rane has been more open. At a press conference in Delhi about five months ago, he openly demanded a change in leadership in the state government. Rane has many reasons to be impatient. The seven MLAs who left the Sena and joined the Congress have not been rewarded with weighty political appointments. Rane is also upset over the state government’s neglect of the Konkan region and has taking pains in nurturing this region. He is also developing his Sindhudurg as an international tourist centre, complete with a Disneyland.

However, despite his best efforts Rane has not been able to dislodge Deshmukh. In fact, his public outbursts against Deshmukh have not gone well with the party. In the recent MLC polls, Rane’s efforts to get his supporters nominated were futile as the party went ahead with Deshmukh’s recommendations.

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Hence, three years after joining Congress, Rane seems to have realised the futility of his angry rhetoric against Deshmukh and is mending his ways. When he met mediapersons after visiting Sonia Gandhi recently, Rane spoke like a seasoned Congressman, choosing his words carefully and circumventing controversial issues. That seemed like Rane’s first step towards change.