mumbai

Updated: Dec 03, 2018 21:27 IST

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP, Narayan Rane at his residence in Sindhurdurg district of Konkan, on Monday, giving rise to speculation about a possible tie up between the two ahead of the 2019 polls.

Rane, former chief minister quit the Congress to join BJP last year. He is however unhappy with the BJP as he was not made a minister in the state cabinet and instead offered a Rajya Sabha nomination. The veteran politician after quitting the Congress had also launched his own political outfit, Maharashtra Swabhimani Paksha (MSP). Both his sons, former MP Nilesh Rane and legislator, Nitesh did not join the BJP formally even after Rane’s Rajya Sabha nomination.

The meeting between Pawar and Rane lasted for more than an hour in the afternoon. Both Rane and NCP party leaders, however said that this meet was informal.

“Pawarsaheb is touring Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, Mr Rane is from there. He invited Pawarsaheb for an informal visit as it’s on the way. It’s premature to read politics into this,’’ said state NCP president Jayant Patil. Rane also told mediapersons in Konkan that this was not a political meeting.

There has however been a buzz in political circles that Rane’s elder son and former Congress MP Nilesh Rane is seeking ticket or support from the NCP to contest the Ratnagiri-Sindhurdurg Lok Sabha constituency that he lost to Sena’s Vinayak Raut in 2014. If BJP and Sena have an alliance, this seat will go to Sena, leaving Nilesh without a home constituency.

Rane’s younger son and Congress MLA, Nitesh Rane, who was present at the meeting, however indicated that while the meeting was informal, it could have a political fall out. “Neither my brother nor I am planning to join the NCP. We will not contest on their party tickets. We have our own party. However, the decision on who our party could align with pre or post polls is still open.’”

He also added that MSP was looking at contesting seats in the upcoming polls in the state but the decision on the quantum of seats would be decided by December end, following a state wide survey the party had undertaken. When Rane had launched launched the party, he had said MSP would align with the BJP.

A senior NCP politician said that since Congress did not have a candidate from here post Rane’s exit, it was willing to align with Rane indirectly for this Lok Sabha seat and would hand over the constituency to NCP.

“We have discussed this with Congress state leadership. Congress priority is to bring down BJP’s Lok Sabha tally even if this requires the party to align with former rebels. In this case it will be done indirectly through us,’’ said the NCP functionary. A senior Congress functionary, however said that the party would tread cautiously when it comes to Rane since he quit the Congress during its weakest hour.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, the party had no formal stance on the issue. “Mr Pawar has said it was an informal meeting. Why should we comment on his meeting with Mr Rane ?’’

A tie-up between Rane and NCP would help both to support each other in the bid to win the two Lok Sabha seats from coastal Konkan. NCP’s former minister Sunil Tatkare is likely to contest from the adjoining Raigad constituency.

Over the last few weeks, the saffron parties have shown signs of a truce and better camarderie with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, sharing dias at functions together. This dimishes scope for Rane’s future tie up with BJP, given his rivalry with the Sena. BJP had taken Rane with the hope of expanding its base in Konkan, where it does not have much of a presence. However, Sena had opposed Rane, a former Sena rebel’s entry in to the state cabinet.

BJP’s revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, when asked to comment on this development, only said that Rane was a smart politician, who would take an “appropriate decision’’.