Narayan Rane vs Shiv Sena: Old rivalry, new episode

Rane first revolted against the Sena leadership in 2005, when he was convinced that Uddhav Thackeray was nursing the ambition of becoming CM

Seventeen years after he rebelled against chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership in the Shiv Sena, Narayan Rane is again locked in a bitter fight with the latter. Rane, now a Union minister, was arrested on Tuesday for his remarks that he would have slapped Thackeray for forgetting the years of India’s Independence. Following Rane’s remarks at a press conference in Raigad district, Sena workers lodged complaints against him across the state and in less than 24 hours, he was picked by a team of Ratnagiri Police and sent to Raigad. The action was unexpected as the Thackeray government chose to arrest a Union minister over certain remarks. The BJP has now threatened statewide protests against Rane’s arrest. The party’s central leaders, too, have reacted strongly to the decision to arrest Rane. Several ministers in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, too, were surprised by the action, wondering why the CM chose to take on the Modi government by arresting one of the colleagues of the PM?

Narayan Rane interacts with the media during an event in Chiplun, hours before his arrest on Tuesday. (Anil Phalke/HT)

The significance, say Sena insiders, is in the timing.

The controversy happens a few months ahead of the elections to municipal corporations and district councils in Maharashtra. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Rane to corner the Sena and help win civic bodies, especially the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has been the Sena’s source of strength and influence for close to three decades. There are a significant number of migrants from Konkan who live in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The BJP hopes to split the Sena’s support base using Rane. Besides, the party has not been able to get much support in coastal Konkan region, which has been Sena’s stronghold for over three decades. The BJP expects to make inroads in Konkan through Rane, who has influence over certain parts of the region.

In this background, Rane’s remarks gave the Sena a perfect opportunity to hit back at him as well as the BJP. The Sena is projecting Rane’s remarks as an insult to the chief minister and thus Maharashtra. After all, the Marathi asmita or identity has always been the Sena’s USP. The Sena’s allies, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, too, have joined the party by slamming Rane for “insulting Maharashtra”.

The Sena top brass also aims to galvanise its cadre and the party’s loyal voter base with this controversy. It has been often seen in the past that any attack on Sena, especially Thackeray family evoked a sharp reaction from the Sena cadre. This controversy will work as a trigger for it. A senior Sena leader also pointed out that the CM has asserted his authority by showing he can take politically tough decisions. “Since the Sachin Vaze episode, Thackeray has been defensive on the political front. For him, now is the time to crack down on his opponents and who can be a better target than Rane? We assume that the opposition would now be careful before launching an attack on him. Besides, the Sena cadre loves aggressive leadership,” he said.

But there is more. “We are anticipating more aggression by the BJP-led Centre in the coming months before the civic polls. There are chances that central agencies would be launching probes into various allegations that are being made against MVA leaders. By taking action against a Union minister, we have advanced that confrontation. Whatever happens now after Rane’s arrest will now be seen as the Centre’s response to today’s action. We can allege vendetta politics and accuse them of targeting us for showing Marathi pride,” said a senior NCP minister. The MVA partners are expecting more action by central agencies ahead of the local elections.

Uddhav versus Rane

Rane first revolted against the Shiv Sena leadership in 2005, when he was convinced that Thackeray was nursing the ambition of becoming the chief minister of the state and hence he would not get the post if it came the Sena’s way. Rane split the Sena with about a dozen MLAs. He was made a minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led Congress-NCP alliance government and was given key revenue portfolio. Following 26/11 terror attacks when Deshmukh was replaced with Ashok Chavan, Rane lost his cool and accused the Congress leadership of betrayal. He then alleged that he had been promised chief minister’s post when he joined the Congress, but the same was not fulfilled. Rane lost his berth in the state cabinet but was later reinstated. He was a minister in the Congress-NCP governments till the alliance lost power in 2014. He even lost his assembly elections. He joined the BJP in 2019 after quitting the Congress in 2017. Even at the time of joining Rane was keen on a ministerial berth in Devendra Fadanavis led cabinet, but it was Uddhav Thackeray who strongly opposed Rane’s inclusion in the state cabinet. The Sena was alliance partner of the BJP then. As the Sena parted ways with the BJP to form the government after 2019 assembly elections, Rane was back in demand. The BJP needed him to counter the Sena in Mumbai and in Konkan. It was a reason why he was made a Union minister in the Modi government.

So, will the BJP get the benefit of Rane’s controversies now? Sensing that the controversy may backfire , the BJP was quick to distance itself from Rane’s remarks. Fadnavis made it clear that the party does not support the controversial remark but added that they would stand behind Rane. After his arrest, if Rane manages to get sympathy of the people in Konkan and MMR, it would be beneficial for the BJP.

“A lot depends on how this controversy plays up in next few days. If the case against Rane falls in court, he will come out as a winner and the BJP will benefit in Konkan-Mumbai. On the other hand, the Sena leadership has shown aggression and given a message to the party cadre that they should take on Rane and the BJP in coming elections,” said Hemant Desai, political analyst.

“If the Maharashtra pride card clicks with the voters, the Sena will have a clear upper hand in Mumbai and Konkan,” he added.