Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane has claimed that his reputation is being tarnished with false rumours about him about to jump ship to another political party.
Rane on Thursday said that some leaders within the Congress have been spreading malicious rumours about him, saying he was planning to join the Shiv Sena or the Bharatiya Janata Party.
I have always been a fighter and will continue to be one, he said. Meeting the chief minister does not imply that I would be joining the BJP, he pointed out. "This is a conspiracy against me and my family," he claimed.
"If Nitesh (Rane) has been suspended for taking a staunch position on the issue of farmers' loan waiver, I have no problems with it," Rane said.
Rane alleged that the government has suspended 19 MLAs in a spirit of revenge, and that it would be difficult for the government to get the state budget passed.