Vishwajit Rane rebels, quits Congress, assembly

Congress leader Vishwajit Rane on Thursday resigned from the Congress and the assembly, shortly after he went missing during a trust vote in the House, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition won.

Rane told reporters that he had submitted his resignation to the Speaker's office and it had been accepted.

"I have been told by my party workers and constituents to resign from the Congress, which meant I had to resign as MLA, too," Rane said.

Earlier, Rane went missing from the assembly during the vote on the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in the assembly even as Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar claimed he could not be traced.

Over the last few days, Rane had been accusing the Congress leadership, including state President Luizinho Faleiro and Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh, of sabotaging the party's attempts to come to power, though the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in the February 4 polls.

"If Vice President Rahul Gandhi does not intervene and act against such non-performers, then Congressmen like me from across India will also resign from the party," Rane said.

Rane's father, Pratapsingh Rane, is also a Congress legislator and a former Chief Minister.

Responding to Rane's allegations, Singh had claimed that the MLA was in touch with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.