After having failed to persuade senior rebel Minister Narayan Rane to withdraw his resignation from his Cabinet, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Tuesday that he would seek the intervention of the Central high command in resolving the issue.
A day after he resigned from the State Cabinet, Rane held a two-hour-long meeting with Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre and discussed matters relating to his relating to his resignation and party’s strategy for forthcoming State Assembly polls.
Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Rane said, “The MPCC president had invited me for talks with the Chief Minister. I met both of them together. I spent two to two and a half hours discussing with them various matters relating to my resignation and the party. But nothing concrete emerged from the meeting. It was decided that my resignation as also grievances would be discussed at a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi”.
“The Chief Minister will seek an appointment for a meeting with Sonia Gandhi in the next two days. The Chief Minister, Thakre and I will meet the Congress president and discuss my resignation with her,” Rane said.
Alluding to what transpired at the meeting, Rane said, “ On my part, I insisted that my resignation be accepted. But, the Chief Minister told me that he has not accepted my resignation. He requested me to return to the Cabinet and work with him. But, I told him that I needed a clarification from him on the issues raised by me in my resignation letter. I also told him that I would decide as to what I would do once I get his clarification”.
Queried if he was offered the post of the State president as a solution to the situation arising out of his resignation, Rane said: “The CM didn’t make any such offer. The solution lies in acceptance of my resignation”.
later, in a separate interaction with the media, the CM said: “We will convey whatever Rane has told us to the Congress high command. Then, we will take a call on how to proceed in the matter ... Thakre and I will discuss Rane’s expectations from the party with the high command. I am confident that we will find a way of the situation”.