Congress 'raider' Vishwajit Rane joins Manohar Parrikar's successor rac

Early local lore tells of the Ranes as feared Maratha raiders who would ride into erstwhile Goa and plunder wealth from the regions wealthy folks In contemporary times the Congress over the last two days must have felt the heat of yet another raid to be more specific by a descendant of one of the several Rane clans Health Minister Vishwajit Rane who has claimed credit for the switchover of two Congress MLAs into the BJPs pocketNowformer MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte on Tuesday joined the BJP at a formal ceremony in the national capital putting not just the Congress in a tight spot but also BJPs allies Goa Forward and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak PartyThe switchover has left the Congress and the BJP tied at 14 legislators each with the Congress no longer in a position to claim the single largest party in the state assembly status and exercise their privilege before the Governor to stake claim to form a governmentIt also leaves the ruling allies Goa Forward and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party some of whose members were flirting with the Congress with a toppling game in mind with very little room to manouvre especially now after the BJPs central and state leadership have threatened them with the dissolution of the state assemblyThe brisk 24hour manouvering has also jettisoned Visjwajit Rane47 as one of the contenders for the chief ministerial position especially with incumbent Chief Minister Manohar Parrikars recovery from advanced pancreatic cancer prolonging for several months nowHe Vishwajit must have told the BJP High Command that he will get two Congress MLAs so make him Chief Minister Congress secretary A Chellakumar said on Tuesday Rane a three time MLA twice on a Congress ticket insists it is his mission to demolish the Congress in Goa I will demolish the Congress party They will be reduced to 10 by ChristmasNew Year Save your flock That is my message to Rahul Gandhi Leaders in the Congress are tired of Rahul Gandhi Rane told IANSWhen asked about chief ministerial ambitions the Health Minister opted for a more humbler approach I am just a partyman who wants to keep doing the work given to him I personally harbour no such ambition he said The son of former fourtime Congress Chief Mminister Pratapsingh Rane a new entrant to the BJP Vishwajit Rane resigned as Congress MLA after the 2017 assembly polls to join the BJP He has shared the perks of power during the BJPs first stint in power with Parrikar at the helm two decades back While the Health Ministers father was a Congress MLA and Speaker who shared a healthy working relationship with Parrikar the latter had appointed Vishwajit Rane as head of a government corporation much to the chagrin of the Congress leadership in GoaWhile he was a part of the Congress however Vishwajit Ranes outspokenness his penchant for the dramatic and constant threats to the partys leadership about contesting assembly elections as an independent rather than on a Congress ticket has more often than not peeved his peer as well as seniors within the partyDespite the fact that he is one of the few MLAs confident of winning his bastion of Valpoi and the growing antigovernment sentiment in recent times a large chunk of the state BJP leadership is wary of what he could bring to the tableHe is a man in too much hurry and cannot lead a cluster of MLAs He can win his constituency without any party support but that does not mean he is necessarily a team player He has always got his way around Congress leadership because of his fathers reach in the party Can he function in a more disciplined structured organisation like ours a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymityCaste calculations also appear to bear against Ranes shot at the top post While the Parrikar regimes appeasement of the Brahmin community has stoked mass dissent against the ruling setup Ranes Maratha roots may not bear much advantage considering that the BJP needs to woo back the Bhandari non Brahmin non Maratha caste grouping voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls if not a midterm poll which is also an option on the BJPs tableHis raid exploits apart the newcomer tag could also serve as a deterrent for Ranes chances as members of the BJPs state core committee have gone on record that the party needs a chief ministerial candidate who has solid BJP credentialsParty sources said that Rane is up against Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar and Speaker Pramod Sawant for the Chief Ministers postCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason 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