The Konkan region of coastal Maharashtra has resonated with one name for the past three decades now—Narayan Rane. Admiration, fear, awe, loyalty, anger—he’s evoked varied emotions in the people, depending which side you are on. He’s considered Sindhudurg as his fiefdom, winning six elections to the state legislature from Kudal since 1991. A resident of Chembur, Rane shot to prominence when his efforts at spreading the Shiv Sena’s presence was noticed by Bal Thackeray. He then contested elections to the municipal corporation and He won the elections to the state legislature in1991 from his hometown in Sindhudurg and was handpicked by Thackeray to replace Manohar Joshi as the chief minister of Maharashtra in 1999 although his term lasted for a mere nine months. Rane is as known for his administrative skills as he is derided for his strongarm politics.
Immensely loyal to the senior Thackeray who he considers his political guru, Rane quit the Shiv Sena in 2005 after a rift with Uddhav. Relations between them had started souring for a while before his exit. Since then, they’ve been bitter opponents, never missing an opportunity to trade barbs. Rane has changed three parties in his political career, each of different ideologies. After moving away from the Sena, he is believed to have weighed his options and joined the Congress on an assurance that he would be considered for the chief minister’s job. However, the post has, for long, evaded him.
In a surprise turn of events, Rane lost the 2014 elections from Kudal-Malvan, a constituency he had held for six terms, to the Sena’s Vaibhav Naik. He subsequently lost the by-elections to the Bandra East constituency the same year. But not one to be defeated, Rane worked his way into the BJP. His sons followed him across the three parties. In 2009, his older son Nilesh won the Parliamentary elections from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg but couldn’t win an election after that. Younger son Nitesh has been a member of the legislative assembly since 2014 from Kankavali and is aiming for a third term. The trio’s ability to sway votes towards the BJP in the Konkan area and their bitter attacks on the Thackerays have won them the favour of the state BJP. Over the years, the Rane politicians have won unflinching support of their loyalists and also the anger of the locals when Rane supported a controversial nuclear power project.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw a change in Rane’s declining fortunes; in a closely fought election from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, Rane won, defeating his opponent from the Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena. In the upcoming elections, Rane’s two sons are vying for seats from neighbouring constituencies.
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