Former Congress leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday said incumbent Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has invited him to join the NDA. He has sought two days' time to answer, he added.
Rane, who resigned from the Congress on 21 September, had announced the launch of a new party called ‘Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh’ on 1 October. The launch of this party came after days of speculation that he may join the BJP. Earlier in September, Rane had also met BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi.
The 65-year-old Konkan strongman, in a press conference in Mumbai, had said,
I have just launched the party. I am waiting for some people to join, then I will decide the future course (of action).
Rane had resigned from the Congress last month, while accusing the party of reneging on the promise of making him the chief minister when he had joined the party 12 years ago after leaving the Shiv Sena.
He had also resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
In 2005, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra quit the Shiv Sena. Weeks later, he joined the Congress. Rane was the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance’s chief minister for a year (in 1999) when it ruled the state between 1995 and 1999.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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