New Delhi: Dissidence in Congress in Maharashtra came to the fore today with senior Minister Narayan Rane attacking Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and warning the high command that there would be problems in the next elections if governance continued in the "same fashion".

Rane, a Shiv Sainik, who joined Congress only two years ago, did not name Deshmukh but made it obvious that he was his target. "Why do you want me to name him. You know him," he said, adding he was not taking the name but he was talking about the Chief Minister. Addressing a press conference after meeting Margaret Alva, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, Rane said the government was not working for the 10 crore people of the state but only for "one person".

Rane, who had headed the Sena-BJP government eight years ago, said he has sought time for a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday. He said the state was facing fresh problems everyday and no solution was in sight. "I am not happy with the functioning of the state government," Rane said adding that if things continued in the same fashion, Congress may have to face electoral reverses in the next polls.

"If things continue the same way they are now, the results in the next elections will not be good for the Congress," he said. Asked whether he had made his views known to the Congress leadership, Rane said that was the reason for meeting Alva.

Source : Agencies