Goa: Pratapsingh Rane terms rumours of him joining BJP ‘canards’

PANAJI: Former chief minister and veteran Congress MLA Pratapsingh Rane on Wednesday rubbished talk about him leaving Congress and joining BJP. He said that former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statements were meant to confuse people ahead of the elections.
Rane, in a video released on Wednesday, said that the speculation that he is going to join BJP is a “figment of imagination”.
“I am not leaving my party. I belong to Congress...for over 45 years. And I don’t think of leaving the party at this juncture,” said Rane.
On Tuesday, BJP’s Goa poll-in-charge Devendra Fadnavis suggested that the veteran Congressman might join BJP. “The Congress in Goa was a nano party with four MLAs. Soon, with Pratapsingh Rane’s blessings, Congress will be reduced to a bicycle party, with only two persons remaining,” Fadnavis said at an event in which former Congress MLA Ravi Naik joined BJP.
“This is a figment of imagination. People are trying to spread canards,” said Rane.
State Congress president Girish Chodankar said that Maharashtra BJP MLA’s remarks indicate the frustration within the BJP ranks. Chodankar also condemned the remarks and urged the former Maharashtra chief minister to stop making irresponsible remarks.
“BJP can’t seem to campaign without lying. Despite having so many MLAs, they can’t seem to win as per every survey. Now out of desperation they are trying to buy more and more MLAs,” Chodankar said.
Chodankar also said that BJP has done Congress a favour by inducting Naik. “We had already kept him aside. We wanted a fresh face, but we could not give a fresh face. If they didn’t take him it would have been very difficult for us. There would have been many fights,” he said.