Mumbai: Congress leader and State Minister for Industry, Narayan Rane met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday to tender his resignation from the cabinet.
Narayan Rane had announced last week that he will quit as minister Monday but will remain in the Congress party. However, CM Chavan is yet to accept his resignation, according to sources.
Rane will hold a press conference at 3 pm.
Rane, who had joined the Congress after he quit the Shiv Sena in 2005, had been at loggerheads with the state Congress leadership for a while now and has repeatedly criticized its style of functioning.
The matter turned for the worse after his son Nilesh lost from Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat. Rane feels that Congress' alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) conspired to ensure his son's defeat.
He had tendered his resignation from the Cabinet on the day results were declared but Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan turned it down.
Though Rane has said that he will not quit the Congress, reports had earlier claimed that Rane is in touch with the BJP.
After the untimely demise of Gopinath Munde, a mass leader form the backward community, the BJP is said to be on the lookout for a strong Maratha face in the state.
Rane had served as chief minister for nine months while in Shiv Sena in 1999 when the NDA government was at helm in Maharashtra.
