Rane-linked party puts up anti-BJP poster, mantri clarifies

PANAJI: A political party affiliated to health minister Vishwajit

Rane

has put up a poster claiming that they would teach BJP a lesson for not making him chief minister. Rane himself, however, has distanced himself from the poster, which he claimed was “dirty propaganda” by the Congress to “mislead the people of Sattari”.


The poster, put up by Sattari Yuva Morcha and which has widely been circulated on social media, states, “Will teach BJP a lesson in Sattari during the Lok Sabha elections 2019 for humiliating Baba (Vishwajit) by not appointing him as CM of Goa”.

Rane posted a clarification on his Facebook account, stating that it has been brought to his notice that some individuals have been misusing his name and trying to tarnish his party’s image before the Lok Sabha election.

“This is dirty propaganda of the Congress party and people like (state president) Girish Chodankar are taking advantage of the situation and misleading my people of Sattari,” the Valpoi MLA said.

The health minister stated that he wants to make it clear that he has been completely loyal to the BJP since he joined it, and that he “has utmost respect for each member of the party”. The decisions we make are taken collectively and with every party member’s consent, he said.

“Let us not pay any heed to such maligning statements and continue to support our BJP candidate, Shripad Naik, and help him (attain) a thumping win in North Goa,” Rane said.

After the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar last month, Rane, along with eventual chief minister Pramod Sawant, were frontrunners to lead the government. Rane had even travelled to New Delhi to pitch his case.

During discussions to select the chief minister, a few BJP MLAs, including deputy speaker

Michael Lobo

and Aldona MLA Glen Ticlo, supported Rane for the top post. Even the

Goa Forward Party

, headed by Vijai Sardesai, and some independent MLAs had supported Rane for the top job.

However, BJP decided to go with Sawant, a legislator with an RSS background, and that is how Rane lost the battle.