Implications of Narayan Rane’s entry in the Union cabinet in Maharashtra
- Unmesh Gujarathi
- Jul 08, 2021
Narayan Rane, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
MUMBAI: Besides being a desired poll strategy considering regional strength and cast combinations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Modi government has done well but inducting Sindhudurg-based Narayan Rane’s to the union cabinet. According to political observers, it has come at the perfect time.
The development is expected to help the BJP in Maharashtra, particularly in the Konkan area, because Rane is considered a strong Maratha leader at a time when the Maratha quota issue is a major factor in the state.
Rane, who has been Maharashtra Chief Minister, heading the Shiv Sena government is seen as someone who can take on the Shiv Sena in its strongholds of Konkan and Mumbai.
In the immediate future, this move is expected to help the BJP in the 2022 civic elections in Mumbai and other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, according to political observers.
According to political observers, Amit Shah views Rane as a pawn to checkmate Devendra Fadnavis, who is seen as Shah’s rival within the BJP.
Rane is considered to have traits similar to Amit Shah, besides also having the political know-how, money as well as muscle power needed to check the Shiv Sena.
Besides, including a Konkan leader like Rane in the union cabinet will appease several communities at once like the Kolis and the Kunbis, besides the Marathas.
This is expected to boost the BJP support base, which has traditionally been weak in the Konkan region, an area where the Shiv Sena is strong.
He was a member of Sena and opposition leader of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha until July 2005, before he joined the Congress party. Sulking for the post of CM he quit Congress in September 2017 and launched his own party, the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha.
In 2018, he declared support for BJP, and was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a BJP nomination. On 15 October 2019, he joined Bhartiya Janata Party and his party Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha was also merged into BJP.
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Unmesh our Editor-at-large is one of the most prolific editors with a career that spans over two decades in leading media houses like The Asian Age, The Free Press Journal, Lokmat etc. Currently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of Sprouts, a daily broadsheet. Unmesh is particularly known for his exposé that have unearthed major scandals of corruption and scoops.
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