Will snap ties with Sena if it joins hands with Sena (UBT) in local polls: Narayan Rane

Speculation has been rife about an alliance in Kankavali, the seat of Rane’s son Nitesh, who is also with the BJP

MUMBAI: The BJP’s Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Narayan Rane has announced that he will snap ties with the Shiv Sena in the two coastal districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg if the party headed by Eknath Shinde joins hands with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) in the local polls. A few local leaders of the two parties have been talking of an alliance for these polls in order to contain Rane, even after Uddhav Thackeray on Friday specifically forbade any alliances with the Shiv Sena.

Narayan Rane file photo (Hindustan Times)

Speculation has been rife about an alliance in Kankavali, the seat of Rane’s son Nitesh, who is also with the BJP. Former MLA Rajan Teli has proposed a ‘city development council’, for Kankavali town while Sandesh Parkar, a Sena (UBT) local leader, has been projecting himself as a joint candidate on the panel. Parkar, who was defeated in the assembly polls last year, is a known rival of the Rane family. He said that the Sena and Sena (UBT) local leaders wanted to come together for the local body polls.

Teli, a former associate of Narayan Rane, who was with the BJP before he jumped to the Sena (UBT) in 2024 and then switched to the Sena led by Eknath Shinde, said that they had informed the party of their decision to join hands with the Sena (UBT), and the latter would take a final call. When contacted, Rane dismissed this by saying that Teli was not a party functionary.

When asked about the issue, industries minister and Sena leader Uday Samant said, “We work under Shinde and we accept reality. Rane saheb has worked in Sindhudurg and done a lot for this district. We have decided to go soft on the issue. We are not taking any steps to stop the BJP in these two districts or Konkan or anywhere in the state. We want to fight elections in an alliance with the BJP, but if not, we will fight elections on our symbol.”

When contacted, former Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Vinayak Raut said, “We will not let any alliance happen with traitors.”