Former chief minister Narayan Rane, whose suspension was revoked by the Congress high command recently alongwith former ministers Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Naseem Khan were on Thursday inducted in the Ashok Chavan led council of ministers in Maharashtra.
The induction of Rane, who was suspended after his attack on Congress high command after former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh was replaced by Chavan, was a formality as the Congress feels that Rane will be quite instrumental in taking on the Shiv Sena in the coming LS polls. While Rane and Vikhe-Patil are cabinet ministers, Khan will be minister of state.
Similarly, an entry of Vikhe-Patil, who is the son of Congress MP Balakrishna Vikhe-Patil from the sugarcane rich Ahmednagar district was to pacify the latter who has already expressed not to contest coming LS polls after the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat became reserved one in the delimitation exercise. Vikhe-Patil senior had played a major role in luring the party high command to accommodate Rane after he was suspended by the Shiv Sena in July 2005