Maharashtra: BJP leader meets, urges Nilesh Rane to withdraw decision of quitting active politics

Nilesh N Rane. Pic/X@meNeeleshNRane

Soon after Nilesh Rane, the elder son of Union minister Narayan Rane, made a surprise announcement that he was quitting active politics, some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including a Maharashtra minister, held talks with the former MP, urging him to withdraw his decision, reported news agency PTI.

State Public Works Department Minister Ravindra Chavan, who was recently appointed as Sindhudurg district guardian minister, met Nilesh Rane and sought to assuage his concerns. He claimed on Wednesday that Rane was upset as his concerns towards local party workers were being ignored, reported PTI.

Nilesh Rane on Tuesday announced on X that he has decided to stay away from politics forever as he was no longer interested in it.

His father Narayan Rane is Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), while his brother Nitesh Rane is a BJP MLA representing the Kankavli assembly constituency. The Rane family hails from the coastal Sindhudurg district. Narayan Rane was a chief minister of Maharashtra in 1999 as a member of the Shiv Sena during the Sena-BJP coalition government. He later joined the Congress in 2005 and the BJP in 2019.

Nilesh Rane was a Lok Sabha member from the Congress representing the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra between 2009 and 2014.

Soon after Rane's announcement, Chavan met him. Both of them later met senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the latter's official residence 'Sagar' in Mumbai on Wednesday, reported PTI.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Chavan said they held "positive talks" with Fadnavis, reported PTI.

"When Rane yesterday announced his decision, we were clueless. We have assured him that his concerns towards party workers active at the local level will be addressed. I have personally requested him to withdraw his decision," Chavan said.

"Our leader, Devendra Fadnavis, has spoken to (Nilesh) Rane. We have decided to look into the concerns he has raised. I am happy to inform you that all of us will work vigorously for the party under Nilesh Rane's leadership," the minister said.

Chavan said he has assured that the party workers issues at the local level will not be ignored, reported PTI.

"As you work in a party framework, sometimes the issues of party workers cannot be heard properly. His expectation was appropriate, and because it was not happening, Rane was upset," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)