16-yr conflict between Narayan Rane and the Shiv Sena intensifies; impact to be felt further in Maharashtra politics
Since his exit from Sena, Rane has been at loggerheads with Uddhav
With the arrest of Narayan Rane, the conflict between the Union minister and Shiv Sena in last 16 years has now reached a zenith. The reverberations of the battle are likely to be felt further in Maharashtra politics.
Ever since he left the Sena, Mr Rane has always been at loggerheads with the Sena and Uddhav Thackeray in particular, targeting Uddhav Thackeray on several occasions. It is said in political circles that the BJP has made him a Union minister to counter Sena on its home turf of Mumbai and Konkan.
Mr Rane, 69, began his political career in the Shiv Sena, then led by Uddhav Thackeray's father Bal Thackeray. He had quit the Sena over differences with the then executive president of the party Uddhav Thackeray. After a brief stint in the Congress, he joined the BJP in 2019 by merging his own Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) into the saffron party.
However, Mr Rane’s induction into the BJP was delayed due to strong opposition from the Shiv Sena, it’s then ally. After quitting the Congress in 2017, the Konkan strongman wanted to join the BJP. However, Sena, which is an alliance partner in the then BJP-ruled state government, objected strongly to the move, due to which Mr Rane had to abandon his plans to join the BJP and he formed the MSP. He was made Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP’s quota in 2018.
It was not surprising when protesting against Mr Rane’s remark against Mr Thackeray, the Shiv Sena workers created ruckus in many cities including Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Pune, Sangli, Ratnagiri etc.
The Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena, workers created a ruckus in front of Mr. Rane’s bungalow in Juhu, Mumbai. A clash broke out between irate Shiv Sena workers and BJP workers. Although the police dispersed the crowd, two policemen got injured during the clashes. The Shiv Sena workers also raised slogans against Mr. Rane calling him Kombadi Chor (Chicken thief).
The Shiv Sena activists in Nashik pelted stones at BJP's office. The Sena workers also ransacked the BJP office in Kalyan and assaulted a BJP worker. In a response to the Sena’s attack, the angry BJP workers in Kalyan protested against Shiv Sainik by holding a rally and demanded police to make the arrest of Shiv Sena workers involved in their office attack.
Rane, 69, began his political career in the Shiv Sena, then led by Uddhav Thackeray’s father Bal Thackeray. He quit the Sena over differences with the then executive president of the party, Uddhav Thackeray.