M A I N   N E W S

Sonia has a ringside view of Maha feuding
Rane supporters throw bottles and chairs at dais
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, June 19
Supporters of Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane clashed at a party function addressed by party president Sonia Gandhi today.

Gandhi’s meeting at suburban Goregaon, where she addressed party workers, had scores of supporters of Rane reportedly from the Konkan region. The supporters shouted slogans and threw bottles and chairs at the dais. One supporter, who took out a black flag and began waving it while Sonia Gandhi was speaking, got badly beaten up by other Congress workers. Sonia had to stop her speech and intervene to prevent further violence.

Senior Congress leaders, including Narayan Rane, who were on the dais were seen trying to pacify the crowd for a long time before peace returned.

In her speech, Sonia asked party workers to fight regionalism. “Regionalism, which is coming to the fore here, needs to be fought so that society is not divided for someone’s vested interests,” she told party workers.

Earlier, welcoming Sonia, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh assured that everyone who is living in Mumbai was a Mumbaikar and would be given protection whether he or she came from north or south India.

The ruckus at Sonia Gandhi’s meet would have repercussions on Rane in the coming days, party sources said. Rane’s biggest supporter Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Prabha Rau said the troublemakers did not belong to the Congress.