Rane regrets his public outburst

S Balakrishnan & Yogesh Naik / Dec 23, 2007, 02:42 IST

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Narayan Rane has regretted his public outburst against Maharashtra CM and has given a second thought to his offer to quit the government on Sonia Gandhi's persuasion.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane has expressed regret for his public outburst against Vilasrao Deshmukh, but has stuck to his guns against chief minister's style of functioning.
In a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, Rane readily agreed that he should not have gone public with his criticism of the chief minister.He also promised to abide by the decision of the leadership on what is to be done in Maharashtra when the Congress boss asked him not to press his offer to quit the government.
But he also used the opportunity to vent his grievance that the chief minister has sought to marginalise him. "I feel completely ignored," the Sena rebel is lear nt to have told the leadership as he explained what drove him to go after the chief minister publicly. The leadership's annoyance with Rane was palpable, with the head of the Congress media cell Veerappa Moily issuing a public rebuke, but it balanced matters with Sonia Gandhi granting him a crucial 20-minute audience he had asked for.
In a statement, Moily said that Rane's action in attacking the chief minister constituted an act of indiscipline. "No one in the party or the government can make such remarks openly against the chief minister. Grievances, if any, should be raised only in the party fora. Going to the press was quite inappropriate," Moily said in an assertion which appeared designed to send across the message that Rane's billing as former chief minister and a prize catch for Maratha-starved Congress would get him no immunity against action.

But even as it made its disapproval plain, Congress leadership did not seem to follow through the public reprimand and take any disciplinary action. For the Congress chief to agree to meet him one day after he crossed the Laxman Rekha was itself a clear sign of the leadership's readiness to hear him out. Rane had not bargained for an appointment before Monday.
His outburst also had the effect of highlighting the dissatisfaction with Deshmukh. The chief minister had looked really vulnerable earlier this year, but managed to get a reprieve because of the escalation in tensions with the Left over the nuclear deal and the consequent prospect of an early election.
By publicly harranguing Deshmukh, Rane may have aided in jogging leadership's memory about the "governance deficit" in a state which is going to be politically crucial for Congress in the next LS polls.
Rane said: "Soniaji heard me out, but I do not want to disclose what exactly transpired at the meeting." Before meeting Gandhi, Rane called on her political secretary Ahmed Patel and handed over a letter pouring out his anguish and expressing his desire to resign. He also had an extensive meeting with Congress leader Margaret Alva. On Friday, Rane had met Alva in New Delhi and soon after that held a press conference at which he fired a fusillade of allegations against Deshmukh. He accused Deshmukh of working only for himself. He alleged that there was widespread dissatisfaction with Deshmukh in Maharashtra and made it clear that he wanted Deshmukh to be dumped. It is believed that Alva egged on Rane to attack Deshmukh with whom she is having a running battle.

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