Rane episode spoils Thackeray's plan

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI, APRIL 14. The move of the Shiv Sena supremo, Mr. Bal Thackeray, to claim his pound of flesh out of the Tehelka episode has run into rough weather following an expose of involvement in a multi-crore land allotment case of his party leader in the Maharashtra Assembly, Mr. Narayan Rane.

Mr. Thackeray had seen good opportunity for his party in the Tehelka trouble of the BJP and Samata Party. This could raise the importance of his party within the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), enabling it form an axis of smaller parties within the NDA and challenge the dominating position of the BJP.

Mr. Thackeray cornered the BJP by refusing to share platform with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in Mumbai and forced cancellation of a public meeting aimed at countering the Tehelka. But the Rane episode has put a brake on his plan, forcing him to work closely with the BJP in the State.

The trouble was the flak the present Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Narayan Rane, received from the principal auditor general and double trouble was that it immediately became means to settle score between Mr. Rane and the Union Heavy Industries Minister, Mr. Manohar Joshi--arch rivals in the Shiv Sena.

As Revenue Minister in Mr. Joshi's cabinet, Mr. Rane had allotted 688 acre of Government land worth Rs. 125 crores at Gorai here almost free to the owners of amusement park, Esselworld. Questioning prudence of such a deal, the auditor called for a detailed inquiry. This was music to Mr. Joshi who had to vacate his Chief Ministership for Mr. Rane. He told a press conference in Mumbai last Saturday that he did not remember the matter except having told Mr. Rane ``do not give the land free''.

This elicited sharp reactions from Mr. Rane. ``If your view was not to give land free, why did not you write so in the file,'' questioned the successor Chief Minister when asked to comment on Mr. Joshi's statement. ``I do not want to embarrass my party by revealing what he told me orally,'' said Mr. Rane.

This shattered the higher pedestal Mr. Thackeray was seeking for the Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, Mr. Rane has received caustic strictures from the Mumbai High Court for changing `reservation' of a plot in Pune.

Mr. Thackeray intervened and made both Mr. Rane and Mr. Joshi issue a joint statement.

The development has given a breather to the BJP. The party cooperated with the Shiv Sena to strengthen its ties with the Shiv Sena, its dependable ally, and it even joined the Sena wholeheartedly in attacking the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal and leveling charges against him in the State Assembly that the Minister took huge amounts of money even from senior police officers for giving them choice postings.

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