Rane dismisses report of floating a new party

Thane, Nov 13 (UNI) Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane today pooh-poohed media reports that he was floating a new party and asserted that he would remain in the Congress.

''Some elements in the party, who do not not want me to be in the Congress are spreading wrong and misleading information about me'', he told mediapersons here after attending the annual review meeting at district collectorate of various works undertaken in the district.

Among those present were Ms Neela Satyanarayan, Principal Secretary (Revenue), Konkan Divisional Commissioner Mr Sidhu and district collector Mr Abasaheb Jarhad.

In reply to a question, Mr Rane said he had never spoken against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. What he had said at the meeting at Ahmednagar was that Dr Singh wanted the country to be a world power by 2010 and to achieve this one and all had to work hard.

He said efforts should be made in every field, including Agriculture and Industry, to excel and achieve the aim. 'If the Congress is to come to power in the next elections, we should reach out to the masses and create awareness or else it would be difficult,'' Mr Rane said.

On the issue of bifurcation of Thane district, he said ''We want the political parties, media and others to take a unanimous decision regarding the district headquarters and then only the issue of bifurcation of the district will be resolved.'' He said there were nearly 2.15 lakh families in the rural areas, who are Below Poverty Line. Instructions had been given to formulate a plan to improve the per capita income of the rural folks in the district.

Besides undertaking various measures to improve the per Capita Income, Mr Rane said he had also instructed officials to impart training in Dairy development through an NGO only for rural areas of the district.

UNI XR OBB GT CS1907