Miffed at not being made CM, Rane quits ministry

Upset at Congress leadership not "honouring its commitment" to make him the Chief Minister, Maharashtra's Industries Minister Narayan Rane today quit the government and lashed out at incumbent Prithviraj Chavan, saying the party's prospects in assembly elections under him appeared bleak.
Rane, however, said he would continue in the Congress.
A former Shiv Sena chief minister, Rane was said to be lobbying hard to ensure Chavan's exit but apparently decided to quit as minister as the party high command appeared in no mood to heed his demand.
Resigning for a second time since the party's rout in the Lok Sabha polls, Rane called on Chief Minister Chavan at his official residence and submitted his resignation, which is yet to be accepted.

"Congress has not honoured the commitment it made. I was told I will be made CM in six months. But in nine years the promise has not been kept," Rane, who has been publicly claiming he was assured of chief minister's post when he quit Shiv Sena to join Congress in 2005, later told reporters.
He said his supporters were not made MLCs, given ministerial positions or made heads of the state-owned corporations or boards.

Rane also lashed out at Chavan, saying, "Victory in upcoming assembly elections under the Chief Minister's leadership is difficult. He has a clean image but decision- making is slow, implementation of decisions already taken is tardy. This affects the people who made known their displeasure with the government in Lok Sabha polls.

"I expected the party and CM to take steps to ensure that LS results are not repeated in the assembly polls. The LS defeat was a collective responsibility. I don't want to be a partner in the blame for defeat in assembly polls," he said.
Though Rane, an influential leader in the Konkan region, claimed Chavan told him he would apprise Congress president Sonia Gandhi of the development and revert to him, the Chief Minister said there was no need to discuss the resignation with party leadership.
"I will go through his genuine and concrete grievances and take a decision accordingly," Chavan told PTI.

Earlier, Chavan tweeted," Narayan Rane met me this morning and tendered his resignation from the council of ministers. He had earlier submitted his resignation on the day of the election result which I did not accept. He assured me that he will continue to be in the Congress party.