Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane has said that nobody approached him for joining the BJP-led NDA Alliance.
Rane, who recently quit Congress, told India TV that leaders from different parties had spoken to him after he walked out of the Congress. However, Rane claimed that he decided to form a new party after much deliberation.
" Nobody approached me for joining NDA. No discussion has been held in this regard," Narayan Rane said.
" After I left Congress, leaders from different parties held discussions with me. However, we have taken the decision to form a separate party," he added.
Rane further said that his new party Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha will work for the welfare of common man in the state.
" We will work for common man including farmers and workers. We will work for every caste and religion. We will do legislative and social work but our focus will be on developmental work," Narayan Rane said.
Rane launched ‘Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh’ on October 1 amid indications that his organisation may align with the BJP.
The 65-year-old tough-talking leader, who has pockets of influence in the Konkan region, served as the chief minister of Maharashtra in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena.
Rane was expelled from Shiv Sena in 2005 after he objected to Uddhav Thackeray's elevation in the party. He was made the revenue minister in the then Congress-NCP government in the state the very next day of his expulsion.
