Finally, Narayan Rane has a reason to smile and a direction for the progress of his political career. Thanks to the party high command, the Congress’ ‘angry bird’ is expected to invest his firepower at the right place — the state legislature, where he performs best.

But not all in the Congress are happy with Rane’s rehabilitation. In choosing Rane as its official candidate for the legislative council, the Congress leadership has sidelined people in charge of party affairs in Maharashtra. State Congress chief Ashok Chavan wanted a sitting MLC Muzaffar Hussain to contest the elections again and he had also made a recommendation in this regard to the party headquarters in Delhi. The high command also rejected Avinash Pande, Chavan’s choice for the Rajya Sabha seat and, instead, imposed former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s candidature on the state Congress.