Pratapsingh Raoji Rane (born 28 January 1939) is an Indian politician from the state of

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 ...

. He has served as the Chief Minister of Goa a record seven times and was also the former Leader Of Opposition in the Goa Legislative Assembly. He has been a

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

for over 50 years. In 2022, the

Pramod Sawant Pramod Sawant (born 24 April 1973) is an Indian politician and the 11th and current Chief Minister of Goa. Sawant represents the Sanquelim constituency in the Goa Legislative Assembly and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an a ...

led

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

conferred life long cabinet status on Rane. Rane has been a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

since the mid-1970s, and was earlier a prominent figure in the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. In the MGP, he was minister for law and also held other portfolios, in the term beginning 1972.

Early life

Rane completed his primary education in SSPMS Boarding school,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and later got his BBA degree in the United States. He comes from the prominent

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

family of the Ranes that dominated politics out of their home in the north eastern pocket of Sattari in Goa. They have had a set of revolts and peace treaties with the Portuguese while the latter were ruling Goa. The family traces their roots to the Rane clan of

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

. He dominated politics in Goa for the entire decade of the 1980s, and for part of the 1990s. His achievements include the launching of the

Kadamba Transport Corporation Kadamba Transport Corporation ( Konkani: कदंब येरादारी म्हामंडळ) abbreviated as KTC is a Government of Goa road transport undertaking. It was set up in 1980 by then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane. Goa has ...

government-run bus transport system in

which had a poor transportation system, which could still do with further improvements. He started Schools and Colleges in rural areas. During his tenure as a Chief Minister, and also the

Goa University Goa University is a public state research university headquartered in the city of Panaji, in the Indian state of Goa. In addition to Panaji ( Taleigão Plateau Campus), it has a campus in Margao, Mapusa, Ponda, Old Goa and Vasco da Gama. ...

was established. He built a network of all weather roads connecting villages and Towns in Goa. Number of Industrial Estates and Industrial Training Institutes were stated during his tenure which helped Goa to industrialise. He undertook to build small and big Irrigation Projects in various parts of Goa. He is also a founder member of the International Centre Goa and a founder member of

Goa Institute of Management The Goa Institute of Management (abbreviated as GIM-Goa), is one of the top business school of India located near Sanquelim in city of North Goa district in the state of Goa. The autonomous school is governed by a board, and offers a full-tim ...

, a premier Management Institute in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Political career

In the 1980s, dissidents within the ruling Congress party sought to dislodge Rane from power, by appealing to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

mostly unsuccessfully. Some of his later tenures in power earned criticism allegedly because of growing corruption during his regime. He was leader of the Opposition while the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

(BJP) ruled Goa from the late-1990s until early 2005. His critics, like the then editor of the local Goa newspaper ''Herald'' or ''

O Heraldo ''O Heraldo'' is a century-old broadsheet English-language daily newspaper published from Panjim, the state-capital of the Indian state of Goa. History ''O Heraldo'' was established as the first daily Portuguese newspaper on 21 May 1900 by Al ...

'', Rajan Narayan criticised Rane for not doing enough as the leader of the Opposition. Rane became chief minister after the Congress's first-ever win in

in 1980 mainly as a "consensus candidate", after a bitter battle for the top political slot between the then two Congress heavyweights, Dr

Wilfred de Souza Wilfred de Souza (23 April 1927 – 4 September 2015) was a surgeon and politician from Goa, India. He served as Goa's first Deputy Chief Minister of Goa and chief minister on three occasions when he was a member of the Indian National ...

and Ananta Narcina Naik, also known as Babu Naik. Naik was subsequently largely marginalised in state politics, while Souza served under Rane in some of his cabinets. After 5 years of

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

rule, Rane began his fifth term as chief minister in February 2005 after the government fell due to a split in the Goa BJP. A month later, however, the state was put under president’s rule for three months. Rane then served as chief minister for the sixth time, for two years until the June 2007 state elections. Though the Congress Party and its allies won a comfortable majority, Rane was forced to step aside as chief minister due to infighting within the state Congress party, and was forced to step aside in favor of a neutral candidate,

Digambar Kamat Digambar Kamat (born 8 March 1954) is an Indian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Goa from 2007 to 2012. Manohar Parikar succeeded him after his term as the Chief Minister of Goa. From 2006 to 2019, he was the president of Swimming Fe ...

. Rane was, however, elected speaker of the state assembly when it reconvened a few days later
Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!

Personal

By profession, Rane is an

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

. He is married. He enjoys reading and watching Marathi Drama and also enjoys English Theatre and Western and Indian Classical Music. He loves playing the Piano.

Controversy

After the BJP attempted a "show of strength" to take over the Goa house, they were stifled by Rane. The BJP accused Rane of acting in a partisan manner to protect the Congress led government. He has also been accused by businessman, Bhalchandra Naik for demanding Rs 10 crore for being granted Environmental clearance for a mine, of which Rs 6 crore had been paid to his son Vishwajit Rane, MLA from Valpoi. In 2018, Rane was caught in another controversy, where he called Goan emigrants from

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, "toilet cleaners". He was asked for an explanation by the state party president, Girish Chodankar.

References

External links

Goa Assembly - Chief Minister Profile, official version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rane, Pratapsingh 1939 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Goa Chief Ministers of Goa Speakers of the Goa Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in Goa Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party politicians People from North Goa district Goa MLAs 2017–2022 Indian National Congress (U) politicians