Narayan Rane, son Nilesh quit party, say were `used and exploited` by Congress

Sindhudurg: Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane on Thursday and his son Nilesh, an ex-MP, quit the party.

"I have sent my resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. I was promised the post of CM four times, but it was not honoured by the party," Rane told a media conference.

He also quit as Member of Legislative Council.

He claimed he was "used and exploited" by the Congress for the past 12 years to secure the support of his loyalist legislators and party activists.

Rane said he would go on a tour of Maharashtra before announcing the next course of action and criticized state Congress president Ashok Chavan.

"I shall prove my strength to Ashok Chavan. Many more Congress leaders shall follow suit. My son Nilesh and I have now become 'Congress-mukt' and have nothing to do with the party," declared Rane.

Rane was the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance CM for a year (in 1999) when it ruled the state between 1995 and 1999.

There is also speculation that he is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

Earlier, Rane met BJP president Amit Shah and even state CM Devendra Fadnavis on a couple of occasions in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

However, he had dismissed them as mere rumours.

(With IANS inputs)