The remarks come days after the party cleared his candidature for the Porim assembly seat in Goa.
Days after the Congress’s Central Election Committee cleared his candidature from Porim assembly seat in North Goa, veteran Congressman and 11-time MLA Pratapsinh Rane on Wednesday hinted at “retiring” from active politics. He stressed on the need of youth to take the party forward in the poll-polling coastal state.
Rane’s remarks, which came on the occasion of the 137th Congress Foundation Day celebrations in Panjim, could badly affect the Goa Congress, which has misbehaved with only two MLAs, one of whom is Mr. Rane. It has to find suitable new candidates in the dwindling pool.
‘need to rest’
“I have completed almost 50 years in politics. It’s time for me to rest. I strongly feel that I should take rest now and give a chance to the youth,” said the former chief minister and sitting MLA from Porim.
Stating that Goa is a progressive state, Mr Rane underlined the importance of encouraging the youth.
The Congress’s decision to field Mr Rane – the longest-serving Chief Minister of Goa – came after his son, BJP leader and minister Vishwajit Rane, said he would contest against his father and Will beat them by a big margin.
However, after his candidature was cleared by the party on 22 December, the senior Rane denied that the Congress’s Central Election Committee had finalized his nomination.
reluctant to contest
According to informed sources, 82-year-old Rane, who has been away from active politics for some time, is shying away from contesting elections this time.
Earlier, Mr. Vishwajit Rane had urged his father to “retire gracefully” from the political arena, claiming that he had lost touch with young voters. Chhote Rane expressed confidence of winning the Porim seat by a margin of at least 10,000 votes, while claiming that his father was “pressured” by the Congress high command to contest the election.
Porim and Valpoi are part of the Sattari sub-district, which has been a virtual fiefdom of the dominant Rane dynasty and where Mr Pratapsinh Rane still maintains a tremendous influence, having won every assembly election since 1972.
While his son Mr. Vishwajit Rane was initially with the Congress, Chhote Rane, who has represented the Valpoi assembly seat since 2007, joined the BJP after the 2017 assembly election.
Since then, the BJP has continued to exert its influence in Valpoi and Porim under Vishwajeet’s leadership.
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