Former Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane on Wednesday, December 8, laid to rest of speculation of his exit from Congress and refuted BJP's claim that he will be joining the saffron party.
The Goa unit of Congress released a video by the veteran leader in which he has asserted that he will not leave the Congress.
"News that I am quitting the Congress party is false. It is their (BJP) imagination," Rane said, referring to the speech by Devendra Fadnavis in Ponda on Tuesday.
"I am not leaving my party. I have been with Congress for over 45 years. I don't think at this juncture I will think about quitting the party. I belong to the Indian National Congress," he added.
The Congress' strength in the Goa Assembly was reduced to three on Tuesday after Ponda MLA Ravi Naik tendered his resignation.
During Naik's induction ceremony, Devendra Fadnavis said that with Naik's exit, the Congress has been reduced to a three-wheeled auto, referring to the opposition party's paltry legislative strength of three MLAs and added that with the possible entry of Pratapsingh Rane into the BJP, the Congress would be reduced to a two-wheeled cycle.
"First the Congress was reduced to a Nano (small car). Once we get Pratapsingh Rane's blessings, it will be reduced to a cycle," Fadnavis said.
