Maha ex-CM Rane floats new party, may align with BJP
Days after quitting the Congress, former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane on Sunday launched a new party called Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh and indicated his organisation may align with the BJP.
“I have just launched the party. I am waiting for some people to join, then I will decide the future course (of action),” the 65-year-old leader, who has pockets of influence in Konkan region, told a press conference here.
Rane, who served as the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena, hinted that his outfit might be veering towards the BJP camp. “I have friends there, so I have no issues with the party (BJP). Let me first make new friends for my party, and then I will announce my next move.”
Asked if he aspires to become the chief minister, he said, “I still have an ambition to become the chief minister of Maharashtra. It never dies. I will wait for the right time to come.”
He said he or his new party will never oppose any development work, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious bullet train project.
The BJP’s saffron ally Shiv Sena has been critical of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The criticism has become increasingly strident following the stampede on the narrow foot overbridge linking Parel and Elphinstone Road stations that claimed 23 lives recently.
Earlier, there was speculation that Rane may join the BJP as some reports suggested that he had met party president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago and later in New Delhi. However, a section in the BJP was learnt to be not in favour of his induction into the party.
MUMBAI: