BJP and Union Minister Narayan Rane in particular outpaced the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners by winning 11 of the total 19 seats in the Sindhudurg District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB). Rane promoted Siddhivinayak Panel gained control of the bank as the sitting chairman and vice chairman were defeated though MVA has won 8 seats. The election was a match between Rane family and rest in which the union minister along with two sons Nilesh and Nitesh Rane supported by BJP snatched the control over the Sindhudurg DCC Bank.
Rane said today’s victory is beginning for a change in Sindhudurg district and also change of power in Maharashtra. ‘’The next goal is to oust MVA from the district and from the state. The agenda is to win all assembly and Lok Sabha seats in the Sindhudurg district and ultimately formation of a BJP government and the party Chief Minister in Maharashtra,’’ he noted.
The election was hogging the headlines against the backdrop of an attack on a Shiv Sena activist Santosh Parab due to the alleged involvement of Rane’s son and BJP legislator Nitesh Rane. The local court has denied bail to Nitesh who is non traceable as the police have stepped up search for him.
Union Minister Rane, who has been firing salvos against the Shiv Sena and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in particular, has hailed the victory saying that the voters have elected those who have the ability to run the bank. ‘’Thank you to all our activists, leaders and voters for the victory of Sindhudurg District Co-operative Bank in the elections. It is hoped that the people concerned will know better how to teach a lesson if a conspiracy is hatched against the Rane family,’’ he said in his first reactions after results were announced on Friday morning.
Rane claimed that the law enforcement machinery and the police were used in an attempt to secure a victory. However, Rane camp received a major setback after the BJP district president Rajan Teli lost to Sushant Naik, the younger brother of Shiv Sena MLA from Kudal, Vaibhav Naik. In 2014, Vaibhav Naik had emerged as a giant killer by defeating Rane who was then in the Congress and a minister in the Prithviraj Chavan cabinet.
However, Sena legislator Vaibhav Naik said that the MVA lost three seats with a thin margin adding that it was victory of Rane’s panel questioning where was BJP. ‘’Today’s victory was due to money and muscle power,’’ he alleged.
