Narayan Rane likely to form own party soon

Mumbai: Given chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ strong opposition to ex-Congress leader Narayan Rane being inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), buzz in the corridors of power is that the latter is likely to form his own party, Swabhiman, on October 1.

Senior BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Chandrakant Patil — number two in state Cabinet —had been lobbying for Mr Rane’s induction.

Earlier there were talks of Mr Rane joining the BJP. “Mr Rane has a track record of attacking people in coveted positions in a few days. He has done this wherever he went. We have seen this in the Congress. Mr Fadnavis opposed his induction to avoid that embarrassment,” said close confidant of the chief minister.

Mr Rane along with state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve, Mr Patil and Mr Fadnavis met BJP national president Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday.

It is being said that Mr Shah went along with Mr Fadnavis’ plan (not to allow Mr Rane into the party) in the meeting. Given the cordial relation between Mr Patil and Mr Shah, it was expected that Mr Shah would go for Mr Rane’s induction. But, Mr Fadnavis proved his position in party by surpassing two strong leaders in state.