The serene coastal belt of
Konkan
, 350km from Mumbai, is the backdrop of a defining battle between the two Shiv Senas. It’s in the Sena stronghold of
Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg
that Union micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) minister
Narayan Rane
, once a trusted aide of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, will take on sitting MP Vinayak Raut of Uddhav Thackeray’s party,
Shiv Sena
(UBT).
At 72, Rane has returned to poll politics after a decade. Initially reluctant, he has been pushed into the battle as BJP, with barely any presence in this belt, looks to expand its Lok Sabha representation in Maharashtra. “BJP compelled me. I am contesting to fulfil the responsibility given by my party. This will be my last election,” he told TOI on a campaign trail.
Rane was once considered invincible in this region. He won six assembly polls in succession from here. The former chief minister’s winning streak continued even after he left Shiv Sena and joined Congress in 2005 following differences with Uddhav Thackeray. But his electoral star began waning after he lost assembly polls from Konkan in 2014, and then, a bypoll in Mumbai in 2015.
Subsequently, Rane left Congress and floated his own party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, which merged with BJP in 2019. He was elected to Rajya Sabha with BJP’s support. His son Nitesh won Kankavli seat — one of the six assembly segments in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency — in 2019 and is a BJP MLA. His elder son Nilesh won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg LS seat in 2009 as a Congress candidate but lost the polls in 2014 and 2019.
In a career spanning four decades which includes a stint as Sena chief minister and multiple terms in both state and Union cabinets, Rane faces his first Lok Sabha poll, but it is a tough contest. The BJP-triggered split of Shiv Sena in 2022 has generated sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray’s party and anger towards both BJP and Rane, as a former party insiderturned-foe.
Konkan has long been a citadel of Shiv Sena, which was founded in Mumbai in 1966 on a wave of nativist sentiment. The lack of industry in the region drove Konkani migrants to Mumbai. They formed a bedrock of support for a party founded on the ‘sons of the soil’ principle, helping it spread its wings in their own hometowns.
The constituency was earlier divided into Rajapur and Ratnagiri, and had a history of socialist and Congress representation. Janata Dal leader Madhu Dandavate was MP from Rajapur from 1971 to 1989. However, 1995 onwards, it has been a Shiv Sena territory with Suresh Prabhu and Anant Geete winning from Rajapur and Ratnagiri.
In 2009, Suresh Prabhu lost to Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh, then a Congress candidate, after a newly demarcated constituency of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg was carved out. But by 2014, the seat was back with the undivided Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut.
At the rickshaw stands and retail shops in Ratnagiri, the split in Shiv Sena resonates. “This is a Shiv Sena stronghold. BJP has broken the party. People will light the mashaal (Uddhav Thackeray’s party symbol) and take revenge against traitors,” says rickshaw driver Shivaji Chavan.
Rane is dismissive of the sympathy factor. “What sympathy? Uddhav Thackeray’s ministers and MLAs left him because he insulted them. His party will sink like the Titanic in the elections,” he says.
Rane’s opponent Vinayak Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) hits back. “Traitors will be wiped out of Konkan this time. Rane will also pay the price for the strong-arm tactics used by his family to get their way,” he says.
Raut, who won the last two elections, is hoping for a hattrick. He won the 2019 elections against Nilesh by a margin of almost 1.8 lakh votes. But Nilesh had then contested as a Swabhiman Paksh candidate and still managed 2.8 lakh votes.
Price rise and lack of employment in Konkan are burn ing issues here. “Most young people still go to Mumbai, Pune or Kolhapur for work. There are no major industries, tourism is not developed and there is poor connectivity. The Mumbai-Goa highway is incomplete after a decade,” said a businessman who did not want to be named.
Protests against an oil refinery project plan at Barsu village in Rajapur have also snowballed into an issue. The protesters have decided to oppose Rane and back Raut. “We are campaigning for Raut because BJP at the Centre and state has supported this project. We do not want a polluting industry here,” says Kashinath Gorle of Barsu Solgaon Refinery Virodhi Sanghatna.
The final challenge for Rane lies within the Mahayuti alliance. The seat saw a protracted tug of war with CM Eknath Shinde demanding it for his Shiv Sena. Its candidate was industries minister Uday Samant’s brother Kiran Samant.
Will Shinde’s Shiv Sena work against Rane? Samant assures, “We have sorted this out and are 100% with Rane.” As he prepares for his last electoral race, Rane says he is sure of a victory. “People want Prime Minister Modi for a third term, and they want me as MP. They are waiting for polling day to vote for me.”
