Narayan Rane gears up to take on Ashok Chavan on home turf in Nanded Municipal Corporation polls

The Chavan camp, on the other hand, has dismissed Rane as a non-entity. A senior leader said, “Does he even merit a comment? Who knows Rane in Nanded? If he could not retain his political base in his own hometown Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri (Konkan), who will take him seriously in Nanded?” Chavan has an illustrious political and family legacy in Nanded. They have worked and connect to the people, he added. Rane supporters argued, “As a political leader, he has every right to campaign.”

The rivalry between Chavan and Rane is no secret. Close aides of Rane believe that Chavan has constantly worked against Rane to undermine his political growth in MPCC and that he was deprived of the MPCC president post because of Chavan’s clever manipulation. Last month, Chavan dissolved the Sindhudurg Congress Committee, which was under Rane’s control, leading Rane to resign from the Congress and float a separate political party.

Earlier, BJP minister Sambhaji Patil Nilengekar had said at Nanded, “Successive elections have proved how Chavan exploited the Congress to retain his might in Nanded. It has not served the city or its people.”