The Rane factor in Cong-NCP equation

Hence, when Narayan Rane 8212; once a trusted aide of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and former chief minister 8212; revolted against Thackeray8217;s son and executive president Uddhav, to join the Congress and become the revenue minister of the state in July 2005, it came as a boon for the Congress. He got himself re-elected on a Congress ticket. Then, seven of his Sena supporters in the Assembly followed suit and six of them got re-elected as Congressmen. It provided the Congress an occasion to celebrate, as its strength in the Assembly went up from 68 to 75 8212; four more than the NCP. The Congress is now the number one party in the Assembly and wants to curb the growth of its rival and an ally the NCP in the state, before the next Assembly elections in 2009.

Rane has grown in stature in the Congress since then and is eyeing the chief minister8217;s chair. Subsequently, there were elections for 169 civic bodies in small towns and polls across the state in which the Congress emerged as the single-largest party.

However, the Congress fared badly in elections held in municipal corporations in 10 major cities, including Mumbai, two weeks ago. For Rane, it was a loss of face, as he had promised the Congress high command that he would enable the Congress to wrest power from the Sena-BJP alliance ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC. Out of the 33 Rane supporters nominated for the civic polls, only seven got elected. The Congress, which had expected a clear majority of 114 seats in the BMC of 227 members, got only 71.

The poor performance of the Congress was attributed to internal squabbles and Rane8217;s rabblerousing style of functioning that increased the number of his detractors in the party. After the poll results, Rane sulked for a week after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi refused to meet him or any other leader from Maharashtra including state Congress chief Prabha Rau and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Now, Maharashtra8217;s polity is preparing to face yet another bout. This time it is elections for 27 Zilla Parishads scheduled on March 11. Since the NCP had won 466 seats in the 27 ZPs and the Congress 409, in the last polls, there is anxiety in Rane8217;s party.

Sensing his limitations in ZP elections, Rane has now embarked on a new mission to show his power to the party high command and teach the Sena a lesson. He has asked a Lok Sabha MP of the Sena 8212; Subodh Mohite 8212; to resign. Mohite, who quit two days ago, on Sunday joined the Congress. Rane has now vowed to engineer the defections of other Sena MPs in phases and also continue with his poaching of Sena MLAs.

Rane has made many enemies even within the Congress and his vindictive style of functioning might prove to be counter-productive for him in the long-run. In a party like the Congress, it would not be long before the leadership would find him too hot to handle. After all, the legislators and MPs that would come with him in the Congress, would be loyal to him more than the Congress. But, for Rane who started off as a streetfighter for the Sena, it is difficult to amend his rabblerousing style and become a Gandhian.