Sena twists Rane remark for poll gains

MUMBAI: Congress minister Narayan Rane's recent statement that even Parameshwar (Almighty) would suffer defeat at his hands in the Malwan assembly by-election has come handy for the Shiv Sena to turn the tables on him in the run up to the crucial poll.
The Sena has decided to give the Rane soundbyte, which he made at a press conference in Mumbai recently, a spin, showing it as an affront to Lord Rameshwar���Rane's family deity and Malwan's popular icon.
Stating that the Sena campaign will centre around Rane's statement, a key Sena functionary on Saturday said, "Lord Rameshwar is an emotive issue in Sindhudurg. We will project Rane as a power-hungry man who doesn't fear God." Meanwhile, in a quick reflex, Rane has denied the remark.
"Since the Sena doesn't have any issue against me, it is reheating a non-issue," he said. The by-poll in Malwan (in Sindhudurg district), scheduled for November 19, will test both Rane and the Sena's electoral clout in the coastal belt of Konkan, say political observers.
The 400-year old Rameshwar temple in Kandalgaon, near Malwan, dates back to the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji and attracts a steady stream of devotees from Sindhudurg. To the uninitiated, Rane held a press conference at Y B Chavan Centre in Mumbai to announce his new trade union.
Scores of questions were hurled at him at the press meet and the Sena rebel answered them with characteristic elan. To a question on the poll prospects in Malwan, a buoyant Rane retorted, "I will win hands down even if the Sena fields the Almighty before me". The Sena lost no time in lapping up Rane's off-the-cuff remark.
In a recent interview with 'Saamna', the party mouthpiece, Uddhav Thackeray was severely critical of him for dragging God into the ballot battle.
"Rane's statement shows that power and ambition has blinded him. He thinks he is greater than Lord Rameshwar," Uddhav told 'Saamna', adding that, the Malwan voters were deeply hurt because of the insult Rane had heaped on Lord Rameshwar. However, many in Malwan think the Sena's campaign may not cut much ice with the voters.
"Rane has been representing Malwan in the state assembly for nearly 15 years. He has a good rapport with voters. A stray remark made by him a month ago in Mumbai can't upset his poll prospects," said Madhav Kadam, a political analyst from Malwan.
Rane could not be reached on telephone. But sources said that Sena has ordered partymen from Malwan to put up the Rane soundbyte on banners across the coastal constituency with a catch-line that he had humiliated the Konkan god.
"We will keep hammering Rane's statement to project him as someone who is willing to defy Lord Rameshwar," said a senior Sena functionary. A band of Sena MLAs who recently visited Malwan did the same. At every public meeting they kept harping on the Rane remark.
Meanwhile, Rane will be felicitated at a function in Malwan on Monday. AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Margaret Alva and MPCC chief Prabha Rau will attend the public meeting.