Narayan Rane's Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh to join NDA
Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), October 6: Maharashtra's former chief minister Narayan Rane's outfit-- 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh'-- would join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Rane recently quit the Congress party.
"I have decided to be a part of the NDA for the development of the state and the Konkan region," Rane told reporters.
Dismissing speculation that he would be accomodated in the Union Cabinet, Rane said, "I will stay in Maharashtra till 2019." He was apparently hinting at contesting the Lok Sabha polls to be held that year.
Rane, who resigned from the Congress party about two weeks ago after a long-drawn tussle with its state leadership, had claimed three days back that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had invited him to join the NDA.
A prominent leader from the influential Maratha community, Rane hails from Sindhudurg district of the Konkan region. Rane became the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena.
Rane
quit
the
Congress,
alleging
that
the
party
had
reneged
on
its
promise
to
make
him
the
chief
minister
when
he
joined
it
in
2005
after
quitting
the
Shiv
Sena.
However,
the
Sena,
a
constituent
of
the
NDA
and
had
advised
the
BJP
against
inducting
him
into
the
party.
PTI