Nitesh Narayan Rane (born 23 June 1982) is an Indian politician and a member of
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 memb ...
for the
Kankavli
Kankavli is a city in Sindhudurg district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is an important city due to its central location in the Sindhudurg district. All talukas are at an equal distance from Kankavli city. There is a temple of Shri B ...
vidhansabha constituency.
He is the head of the
non-governmental organisation
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
"Swabhiman Sanghatana".
He is the younger son of former chief minister and senior politician
Narayan Rane
Narayan Tatu Rane (born 10 April 1952) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He currently serves as Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Second Modi ministry. He has previously held Cabinet Ministr ...
.
Early life
Nitesh Rane was born in Bombay (now
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
) to Neelam Rane and
Narayan Rane
Narayan Tatu Rane (born 10 April 1952) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He currently serves as Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Second Modi ministry. He has previously held Cabinet Ministr ...
, a senior leader from Maharashtra on 23 June 1982.
He is an MBA professional and studied in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
along with his elder brother
Nilesh Nilesh (sometimes also spelled as Neelesh) is an Indian name based on one of two deities, Vishnu or Shiva, in Hinduism, depending on which of its two Hindi pronunciations are used. 'Nilesh' means 'the Blue God', and is one of the alternate names fo ...
. He returned to India to join politics and help his father when his father decided to quit
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...
in 2005 and join Congress.
[
]
Career
Swabhiman Sanghatana
Rane started his career by founding Swabhiman Sanghatana which raises social issues in areas of youth unemployment, health services, basic amenities throughout Maharashtra, and mainly in Mumbai. He was also the general secretary of Youth Congress, Mumbai but resigned from his post in December 2008 because of the conflict between him and other local Congress leaders.[ At the onset of summer of 2010, the organisation launched a toll free helpline where citizens could register their complaints against the private water supply tankers. Rane stated that the private tankers charged exorbitant prices ranging from anything between 6 and 25 times the rate set by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. He blamed the ]Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...
- BJP administered BMC for their failure to curb "water-mafia".
Swabhiman Sanghatana has organised several job fairs. In October 2011 at Kamgar Maidan, Mumbai, it set a Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
by conducting largest job fair which gave over 25,000 jobs to unemployed youth, including physically challenged.
Politics
He contested from Kankavli
Kankavli is a city in Sindhudurg district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is an important city due to its central location in the Sindhudurg district. All talukas are at an equal distance from Kankavli city. There is a temple of Shri B ...
vidhansabha constituency in 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election
The Indian state of Maharashtra has a bicameral legislature, comprising two houses. The lower house, known as the Legislative Assembly ("Vidhan Sabha" in Marathi), is directly elected by the people and is the more powerful of the two houses. The ...
and won by margin of over 25,000 votes.
Other works
In September 2012 he started an initiative called "Maharashtra Kalanidhi" (MKN) along with theatre personality Anant Panshikar
Ananta (infinite) () literally means "unending" and has additional meanings in the context of Indic religions.
Anant/Ananta may also refer to:
Hinduism
*Ananta Shesha, the serpent that circles the world
Places
*Ananta (Arequipa), a mountain in ...
in order to help Marathi theatre
Marathi theatre is theatre in the Marathi language, mostly originating or based in the state of Maharashtra in India, and elsewhere with Marathi diaspora. Starting in the middle of the 19th century, it flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, ...
and to get audience to Marathi cinema
Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was ''Shre ...
. The organisation helped director-producer Sanjay Jadhav
Sanjay Jadhav (born on 18 July 1970) is an Indian cinematographer and a Hindi and Marathi film director.
Career
Jadhav is an Indian cinematographer and film director in Bollywood and Marathi cinema, who is best known for his 2013 film, ''Du ...
when he faced financial setbacks in production of his film ''Duniyadari
''Duniyadari'' (; Marathi: दुनियादारी) is a 2013 Indian Marathi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Sanjay Jadhav and produced by Deepak Rane. The film is based on the novel of the same name by author Suhas Sh ...
'' (2013). he is building a film city, which will help the Marathi film makers to have very good locations in konkan and low rates for hiring the comprehensive facilities in the film city. first phase of the project is on 10 acres of land in the malvan area.he is working on the project along with team of maharashtra kalanidhi.
In February 2012, he launched Sindhudurg Tour Guide, a training program with the aim to provide employment & self-employment opportunity to local youth in tourism industry in the Sindhudurg district
Sindhudurg district (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is an administrative district of the Konkan division in India, which was carved out of the erstwhile Ratnagiri district. The district headquarters are located at Oros and the dis ...
.
In February 2014 he also launched a unique mobile job providing initiative called "Naukri Express". A mobile vehicle which has mobile office with counters and interview booths, it will travel across Maharashtra advertising vacancies in local organisations with the aim to bring jobs at doorsteps.
Controversies
Late in 2009, he protested the release of the Marathi film '' Zenda'' as one character in it "Sada Malwankar" resembled his father Narayan Rane
Narayan Tatu Rane (born 10 April 1952) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He currently serves as Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Second Modi ministry. He has previously held Cabinet Ministr ...
, who was the then Minister of Revenue for the state. The producer-director of the film Avdhoot Gupte
Avadhoot Gupte (Marathi pronunciation: �ʋəd̪ʱuːt̪ ɡupt̪e born 19 February 1977) is an Indian singer, musician, writer, music & film director, film producer, television presenter and actor who works primarily in Marathi Cinema. He sta ...
had to re-shoot and re-dub few scenes and also change the character's name to "Sada Panvalkar" thus removing the connection of Rane family with their hometown Malvan
Malvan (also written as Malwan) is a town and ''taluka'' in Sindhudurg District, the southernmost district of Maharashtra State, India, well known for the historically important Sindhudurg Fort. Malvan ''taluka'' consists of villages such as ...
. In 2010, Chintu Shaikh, a small businessman who runs a medical store in Vikhroli
Vikhroli (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ikʰɾoɭiː is a suburb of Mumbai located on the northeastern side of the city. The suburb has a railway station by the name Vikhroli on the Central Railway (India), Central Railway line. ...
, filed an F.I.R.
F.I.R. () is a Taiwanese pop rock band formed in 2004. The band consists of Lydia (lead vocals), Ian Chen (keyboards), and Real Huang (guitar, vocals). Producer Ian Chen formed his own band then recruited the other two members to form F.I.R. The ...
against Rane under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...
for attempted murder. Shaikh claimed that Rane had fired two rounds at him. But the prima facie
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...
medical report called the injury to be sustained by some "sharp object" and not bullets. With further investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
(CBI) gave clean chit to Rane in 2012. The case was transferred to CBI from police when Shaikh filed a petition in Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
claiming that police were wrongfully protecting Rane.
In March 2010, he launched water mafia helpline to tackle water mafia in Mumbai. He also warned the tanker association to lower their prices, and claimed that the BMC has done nothing to curb the city's water mafia.
In 2011, Rane claimed that the water mafia sells water to poor people at high rates and sena-bjp are running the water mafia. In a move against water mafia his organisation team along with him destroyed an illegal pipeline that water mafia has built in Thane from which 10 lakh litres of water was being stolen every day.
In 2012, Rane claimed that the Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...
should close the stall of Vada pav
Vada pav, alternatively spelt wada pao, is a vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The dish consists of a deep fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun (''pav'') sliced almost in half through the middle. ...
run by Shiv Sena, just in the manner it had ordered covering of statues of Mayawati
Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...
in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. He deemed these stalls as "promotional activity" of Shiv Sena in the light of upcoming elections of BMC. Earlier in 2011 BMC had threatened to demolish illegal stalls, including those set by Swabhiman Sanghatana. BMC had then removed Shiv Sena's stalls also after Rane warned BMC for partial behaviour.
In 2012, he was warned by BMC for displaying huge hoardings and banners on the occasion of his birthday by his followers. In response he stated that the banners were already removed by them and that BMC was targeting Nitesh Rane while turning a blind eye on banners of Shiv Sena.[
On 3 December 2013, he was detained by police for allegedly damaging toll booth and assaulting workers at a toll plaza in ]Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
.
In 2013-14, Rane was in