My work, not dad, got me a ticket, claims Nitesh Rane

Congress candidate from Kankavli constituency in Maharashtra Nitesh Rane said he has earned his candidature for the legislative assembly elections through his work and not because he is the son of former chief minister Narayan Rane.

The 32-year-old leader said he has earned the ticket by working for the people.

“I could have contested from Kankavli in the 2009 assembly polls but I felt I needed more time and worked through my organisation Swabhiman Sanghatana to create jobs. My father gave the ticket to Ravindra Phatak that year,” he said.

He said a candidate's connect with voters is very important, and that is what he was trying to do.

It is a misperception that Narayan Rane was depending more on his sons after his aides have deserted him, he added.

“Ravindra Phatak was given a ticket in 2009 from Kankavli while Rajan Teli was made MLA. They were given their due. However, to cover up their own insecurities, my father's aides created tensions between my family and local leaders.”

“It is because of my father that Deepak Kesarkar became the Sawantwadi municipal council president. It is good that all the former aides have either joined the Shiv Sena or the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he said.

He said the Kankavli assembly segment comprises Kankavli, Deogad and Vaiabhavwadi talukas and he has prepared a vision document for all three areas to upgrade infrastructure, electricity, water, education facilities and employment generation.

Nitesh said he is confident that the youth vote, which had gone to the Sena and BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, will support him now.

When asked about the absence of basic infrastructure, which has been a critical issue in Sindhudurg district, Nitesh said development has taken place in the last few years and he would work to upgrade the same.

Nitesh said Sindhudurg had been a backward area till his father first became an MLA from the region.

“There has been consistent growth since my father’s time. I am laying down a road map before the voters for the next 25 years for areas in which the districts need an upgrade,” he said.

The young leader claimed that the per capita income of Sindhudurg was second only to Sangli.

“It is not a backward district anymore,” he said.

On the Jaitapur nuclear power project, Nitesh said the opposition to the project was no longer there as Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has given a green waiver.

Nitesh criticised Raj Thackeray's opposition to Modi, stating it was hypocritical after Thackeray had himself appealed to his partymen to support Modi during the Lok Sabha elections.

“Raj, at a rally in Solapur, had said that Maharashtra ministers should drink the water with which Modi bathes,” he said.