BMC polls will be the start of change with BJP’s win: Narayan Rane

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis and Narayan Rane at the Bal Thackeray Memorial in Shivaji Park

Narayan Rane has invoked his former party boss, the late Bal Thackeray, while declaring war on the Shiv Sena founder's son and Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, for the forthcoming Mumbai civic polls. On his arrival in the city on Thursday, after becoming the union minister for micro, small and medium enterprises, Rane paid a visit to the late Thackeray's Shivaji Park memorial and vowed to defeat the Sena in the civic polls slated for next year.

Rane began his two-day Jan Aashirvad Yatra (public outreach programme) in Mumbai on Thursday from the airport and passed through Sena strongholds. It was evident from Thursday's narrative that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has empowered Rane to take his rivalry with Uddhav Thackeray to another level. The Congress had tried similar tactics when Rane was part of it, but failed to regain lost ground in the city's civic elections, which the Sena and BJP fought together till 2012.

The scene changed completely in 2017 when the Sena and BJP separated in the BMC polls. The Sena finished first and the BJP second, with a small margin between them. Devendra Fadnavis, the then CM, had strategised the combat. In this election, the Congress had Rane in its ranks, but recorded its lowest ever count. As a Congressman, Rane bitterly lost two Assembly elections - one in Konkan and the other in the Bandra East by-poll, to Sena candidates. Trupti Sawant, who had beaten him in Bandra East, has now joined the BJP because she was denied a Sena ticket. Sawant welcomed Rane on Thursday. Rane spent a decade in the Congress before forming his own party that later merged with the BJP two years ago.

Target Uddhav Thackeray

Leaving the past behind, Rane is now confident of turning the tables on Uddhav, whose party has been ruling the BMC for over three decades. The union minister addressed corner meetings, including one at Kalanagar where the Thackerays stay. His yatra ran through Sena-dominated pockets of Central and south Mumbai. Expectedly, he criticised Uddhav Thackeray, blaming him for poor governance. "The two years of this government have taken the state on a path of destruction. The BMC polls will be the start of the change with the BJP's win," he said.

"Balasaheb should have been here today. He would have blessed and encouraged me. Whatever I have today is only because of Balasaheb. I think I'm still blessed by him," said the leader, who broke away from the Sena in 2005, primarily because of serious differences with Uddhav Thackeray.

Promising to give the CM back in the same vein, Rane said the sins that the Sena committed in 32 years of BMC rule will come to an end in the 2022 polls. He challenged Uddhav to speak out instead of telling his ‘cronies' to speak against him. "The language of protest shouldn't be used when someone wants to visit a memorial. They should consider emotions involved," said Rane, remarking on the Sena leaders' comments that the ex-Sainik will not be allowed to visit the Thackeray memorial. The threat put security arrangements under strain at Shivaji Park.

After getting inducted in Team Modi, Rane and three ministers of state (MoS) have been told to reach out to the people in their areas of Maharashtra. Rane will tour Mumbai and Konkan. Finance MoS Bhagwat Karad has been touring Marathwada. Health MoS Bharati Pawar has reached out to tribal-dominated Palghar and parts of north Maharashtra. Panchayat Raj MoS, Kapil Patil was in Thane and Raigad districts.

‘Not superspreaders, meeting people'

From the government's side, the BJP yatras are seen as super spreaders in the time of the pandemic. In his appeal to the people for cooperation during the unlock, CM Thackeray taunted the BJP for risking the public's life by holding such political events when a third wave is expected.

In response, Rane said the BJP leaders were just meeting the people. "We're blessed by the people to rule this state. The current government has come to power without the public mandate. They should stop preaching and wait for some time to see their rule end."

Sainiks purify memorial

After Rane and BJP leaders left Shivaji Park, the Sena workers purified the Thackeray memorial with gomutra and milk. The act accomplished kicked off a controversy and saw the security tightened at the Shivaji Park later in the day.

The BJP protested the move saying that the Sena needs to be purified for sitting in power with the people who had arrested the late Bal Thackeray. By doing an act of purification, the Sena has tried to destroy the very fundamentals of Maharashtra's political and cultural tradition. There was no need to make Rane's visit to the memorial an issue of ego and pride. A place of faith like this cannot be only for certain individuals and communities, and confined to the four walls of home," said the opposition leader in the upper house, Praveen Darekar.

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No. of days Rane's Jan Aashirvad Yatra will be on