Maha polls: Know which Congressman is smiling at Rane's defeat

Mumbai, Oct 19: In a major jolt for the Congress, its senior leader and party's campaign chief, Narayan Rane, was trounced in his home constituency of Kudal in Sindhudurg district on Sunday. He was defeated by Shiv Sena's Vaibhav Naik by more than 9,000 votes.

Undoubtedly, this news came as setback for the Konkan strongman and his family but has brought smile on former Chief Minister Prithiraj Chavan's face. Though, he might not be expressing it openly.

It is well known fact that the duo never shared good equations. Rane, who joined the Congress after he quit Shiv Sena in 2005, had repeatedly criticised Chavan's style of functioning. He even submitted his resignation questioning Chavan's leadership skills. Addressing a press conference, Rane slammed CM Chavan slow decision making saying, "Decisions were not taken, if taken they were not implemented."

Rane was inducted as Minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government soon after he joined the Congress in 2005. According to reports, Rane had joined the Congress on the understanding that he would be given a shot at the top job. However, the Congress had other ideas and made it clear that his entry into the party was without any preconditions.

Rane resigned from Minister's post expressing his ire over Congress high command's failure to keep the promise purportedly given to him but later backtrack.

Rane who served as State CM for nine months in 1999 had even blamed Chavan for party's disastrous defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

OneIndia News