With the Opposition appearing to be ganging up against rebel Congress leader Narayan Rane entering the fray for the December 7 State Council bypoll, sources claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not risk putting him up as a candidate.
Instead, BJP sources said, the former Chief Minister will be considered for the Council in May 2018, when 11 MLCs are completing their term and are set to retire.
“He (Narayan Rane) was never going to contest this bypoll. The BJP will make him an MLC from its quota when these 11 complete their tenure,” a close aide of Mr. Rane said on the condition of anonymity.
Sources said the BJP does not want to risk the government’s stability by allowing the Opposition and the Sena to come closer. A defeat at the hands of the united Opposition in the bypoll, a day before the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, will not go down well with the BJP top brass.
Besides, the party does not want to start winter session of the legislature on December 11 with the baggage of defeat, especially as the Opposition will already be ready with criticism about the farm loan waiver’s implementation and the deteriorating law and order.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar had earlier proposed that in case of poaching, the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP put up a single candidate to defeat a BJP-backed candidate.
The government is in a delicate situation, especially after a recent meeting between Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. It is believed that Mr. Thackeray would quit the BJP government if Mr. Rane is inducted into the State Cabinet. A lot also depends on the Gujarat election outcome, as a setback to the BJP there could also lead to unity among Opposition parties in Maharashtra.
