Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg LS seat should go to BJP; I will win it if party fields me: Narayan Rane

Union minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday said the BJP should get to contest the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency as it has a significant base there, and expressed confidence that if the party fielded him from that seat the upcoming parliamentary elections, he would win it.Ranes statement is likely to increase the tension among Maharashtras ruling allies, especially between the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which has staked claim to the seat, and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP.

Union minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday said the BJP should get to contest the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency as it has a significant base there, and expressed confidence that if the party fielded him from that seat the upcoming parliamentary elections, he would win it.

Rane's statement is likely to increase the tension among Maharashtra's ruling allies, especially between the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which has staked claim to the seat, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Currently, the seat is represented by Vinayak Raut, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). This constituency, which covers two key coastal districts of Maharashtra, has traditionally been a bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena. After the party's split, Vinayak Raut supported the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction and he has been renominated by the party in the upcoming polls. Although Shinde-led Shiv Sena has staked its claim to the seat, the BJP has upped its ante, putting pressure on the ally.

Talking to reporters against this backdrop, BJP leader Rane said, ''The Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg parliamentary constituency has a significant BJP base, and we should get the seat. If the BJP fields me, I will not only contest but also win the seat for sure. No one should spoil this game now.'' However, state Industries Minister Uday Samant, who is a close aide of CM Shinde, expressed confidence that the ruling Shiv Sena will win the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency by a margin of 2.5 lakh votes.

''Shiv Sena has been contesting this seat for a long time, and we should get it. Our candidate will win by a margin of over a 2.5 lakh votes against the opposition nominee,'' he told reporters.

The BJP, as well as Shiv Sena leaders, have organised meetings of party workers in both districts - Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg - to demonstrate support for their own candidates. According to political analysts, Kiran Samant, the brother of Uday Samant, is keen to contest this Lok Sabha seat from the same constituency.

Maharashtra BJP leader and state PWD minister Ravindra Chavan, who has been given the charge of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, however, avoided questions related to the Lok Sabha candidate while addressing a BJP booth-level workers' meeting in Ratnagiri during the day. Last month, Goa Chief Minister and BJP leader Pramod Sawant visited Sindhudurg, where he said the lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) should bloom there. ''The candidate of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg will contest on the lotus symbol. The lotus should bloom here in this election,'' Sawant had said.

Nilesh Rane, the elder son of Narayan Rane, won the 2009 Lok Sabha election in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency when the Rane family was part of the Congress party. Rane was re-nominated by the Congress, but lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election against Shiv Sena candidate Vinayak Raut. Raut retained the constituency in 2019 when Nilesh Rane contested as the candidate of Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha.

Narayan Rane had started his political career in the undivided Shiv Sena and went on to become the chief minister. However, he was expelled from the party by its founder Bal Thackeray. Rane's younger son Nitesh represents the Kankavli assembly constituency in Sindhudurg district.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)