Stage set for return of rebels Rane, Babush 9 December 2009, 05:33am IST PANAJI: The decks have been cleared in the Congress for the return of the rebels - education minister Atanasio Babush Monserrate and health minister Vishwajit Rane.
Confirming this on Tuesday, chief minister Digambar Kamat said, The party high command had agreed in principle long time back to admit them. State Congress president Subhash Shirodkar also told TOI on Tuesday, They have expressed their wish to join the party, adding that their entry would boost partys activities and the governments programmes. Party sources said Rane is in Delhi and has met party president Sonia Gandhi to negotiate his return to the Congress. However, he could not be contacted for his comments. Monserrate is in Goa. Their formal induction into the party is likely to be only after the four-day assembly session ending December 18. Much water has flown down the Mandovi since the assembly polls of June 2007, when Rane and Monserrate rebelled against the party and contested as nominees of a regional party and independent respectively. Sitting Congress MLA from Taleigao, Babush had quit the party to contest as a candidate of the United Goans Democratic Party after the Congress refused a ticket to his wife Jennifer for the St Cruz seat. His last-minute desertion had left the Congress gasping in embarrassment without a candidate in Taleigao. On the other hand, Vishwajit, son of Speaker Pratapsingh Rane, had canvassed for a Congress ticket from Valpoi. However, there was opposition within the party to giving tickets to two family members. After much uncertainty and amidst a tug-of-war within the party, he was finally denied the party ticket. In a comic situation that ensued, Rane Jr filed his papers as an independent, while Congress had no candidate of its own. A political rookie was roped in, but it ended in a farce as he withdrew at the last minute, leaving the party without a candidate in Valpoi. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Stage-set-for-return-of-rebels-Rane-Babush/articleshow/5317166.cms
