The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Maharashtra unit chief Raosaheb Danve on Monday said that the saffron party had never “invited” nor made any “unconditional offer” to former Chief Minister and ex-Congressman Narayan Rane, who recently quit the Congress and floated his own party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh .
However, Mr. Danve added that Mr. Rane was “most welcome” in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold if he so wished.
“If his [Rane’s] new party is aligned with the aims and principles of the BJP, then it is more than welcome in the NDA fold,” Mr. Danve said in Aurangabad, responding to questions on whether Mr. Rane would take his party into the NDA.
Mr. Rane floated the ‘Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh’ on the occasion of Dussehra last week after severing his decade plus-long association with the Congress last month on a bitter note.
At the time of quitting, he vowed to deplete the ranks of his former parties, the Shiv Sena and the Congress. Political grapevine is that the BJP wishes to prop up Mr. Rane in the Konkan as a deterrent to its disaffected saffron ally, the Sena as well as the opposition Congress.
However, Mr. Rane appears to be drifting in political limbo with many top leaders within the BJP opposed to his entry.
The Konkan strongman has repeatedly targeted the Shiv Sena, launching vitriolic attacks on Sena President Uddhav Thackeray. Mr. Thackeray, in turn, has warned that his party would exit the coalition if the BJP inducted Mr. Rane.
Mr. Danve revealed that while discussions of a political nature did take place during Mr. Rane’s recent meeting with BJP President Amit Shah in Delhi, there was no offer from the BJP’s side or assurances of Mr. Rane getting a berth in the State cabinet.
He further repudiated suggestions that the BJP’s motive behind inducting Mr. Rane was to use him as a ‘weapon’ to check the Sena.
“The BJP has enough and more capable leaders of its own. We do not need to resort to such tactics to answer the Sena,” Mr. Danve said.
