Cong factions fight it out at Sonia146;s rally

Just when the ruling Congress in Maharashtra had thought that it had sewed up the cracks in the party...

Just when the ruling Congress in Maharashtra had thought that it had sewed up the cracks in the party, the divisions between opposing factions burst to the fore on Thursday, ironically in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, who urged party men to put an end to factionalism.

About a dozen party workers, said to be supporters of Maharashtra8217;s Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, heckled senior party leaders, threw chairs around and shouted slogans against Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, drowning out speeches by Union Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Shivraj Patil at a party conclave in Goregaon.

As Shinde stood up to speak, the hecklers shouted, 8220;CM hatao, Maharashtra bachao,8221; Remove the CM, save Maharashtra. They refused to pipe down despite attempts by other Congress activists to restrain them, including an irate woman worker who threw a water bottle at them.

They also shrugged off questions about their loyalties. 8220;Who is this Narayan Rane? We do not know him,8221; said a heckler from the opposing faction, who also raised slogans praising Gandhi. The ruckus continued for over 20 minutes even as state Congress chief Prabha Rau and AICC general secretary and Maharashtra in-charge Margaret Alva appealed for peace.

Just as the trouble seemed to have subsided and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil rose to speak, it erupted again. There was a fresh disturbance in the back rows, with chairs being thrown around and some people forced out of the hall.

Speaking to reporters later, Rane denied that the troublemakers were his supporters and alleged that the incident was a plot against him. He added that his supporters had gone to the protesters and tried to pacify them, and even asked them why they were using Dada8217;s Rane8217;s name. He alleged that Goregaon-based supporters of Sunil Ahire, Mumbai-unit Youth Congress president and Goregaon Congress corporator Sameer Desai were involved in the incident.

Goregaon police said they had detained three people in connection with the incident and were conducting further investigations.

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Rane, who quit the Shiv Sena to join the Congress in 2005, has been leading a campaign against Deshmukh and has made several requests to Gandhi to replace him. However, with the party high command appearing reluctant to remove Deshmukh, he appeared to have come to terms with the situation.

Gandhi, in her speech, called for unity within the party and made an oblique reference to the anti-north Indian campaign of the MNS and the Shiv Sena. She said that politics of regionalism were on the rise and urged the party to fight sectarian forces that encourage divisions between people.8221;The Congress is the party of all sections,8221; she said in what seemed like a pre-election speech, and claimed, 8220;No alliance government in the post-Independence era has taken such important steps as the UPA.8221; She added that the Government had almost fulfilled promises made in its manifesto and the CMP.