The likely induction of former Congressman Narayan Rane in the Maharashtra government after Diwali has sent ripples of suspicion in the BJP.

A section of MLAs in the party is not happy with the Rane’s aggressive style of leadership.

Sources in the BJP said the leadership views Rane as a counterforce against the Shiv Sena in the coastal Konkan region. However, for the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP, along with the RSS, has enough local strength to get its MLAs elected in Konkan.

Rane has always harboured chief ministerial ambitions, which could ruffle up things with incumbent Devendra Fadnavis in the run-up to the elections, the sources added.

Some BJP MLAs could be soon writing to party president Amit Shah, expressing their displeasure over Rane. However, in spite of the opposition, Fadnavis and senior BJP leaders will have to allocate a large portfolio to Rane, the sources further said.

The cabinet reshuffle is expected to happen after Diwali, with a few new MLAs being elevated as ministers and some ministers being dropped due to poor performance.

Rane recently set up his own party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, after resigning from the Congress. He has accused the Congress of not keeping its word.

BJP sources said the national leadership has asked Fadnavis to decide on the portfolio to be given to Rane.

Earlier in the week, senior BJP leader and Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had told mediapersons that there is no reason for the Shiv Sena to be upset over Rane’s induction. The BJP has always maintained a cordial relationship with the Sena and its leaders, he added.

‘To join NDA’

According to a PTI report, Rane said his party will join the NDA. “I have decided to be a part of the NDA for the development of the State and the Konkan region,” he reportedly told the press.

“I will stay in Maharashtra till 2019,” he said in an apparent hint that he may contest the Lok Sabha polls that year.

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