Mumbai: In a veiled attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Revenue Minister Narayan Rane today said some Congress leaders were lending covert support to political rivals to cut party colleagues to size.

"(Shiv Sena leader) Uddhav Thackeray is okay for some leaders in the Congress but not Narayan Rane. Rivals from other political parties are given hidden support and strengthened. This is not fair," said the Shiv Sainik-turned- Congressman, a known vocal critic of Deshmukh.

He was speaking at a Congress workers convention organised by the North West Mumbai District Congress Committee in the presence of Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh and Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla.

Hitting out at Deshmukh's style of functioning, Rane said there have been just talks of Cabinet expansion and filling up vacancies in the state-run corporations and boards and appointment of special executive officers (SEOs), but it has not happened all these years.

"This is gross injustice. Over four years have passed and we are still waiting (for Cabinet expansion and appointments). There is a limit for patience. If you want the workers to gear up for elections and ensure win for the Congress, you have to empower them too," he said.

Asking workers to introspect the prevailing political situation and whether they are capable of ensuring a victory for the party, Rane said circumstances were not the same as in 2004 elections when actor-MP late Sunil Dutt was alive.

"Do we have a towering personality like him among ourselves to lead us, and do we possess his quality of selfless service to the people?" he asked.
Source : PTI