MUMBAI: Three Shiv Sena legislators, who quit the party and the Maharashtra Assembly, romped home on Congress tickets in byelections, proving that their leader Revenue Minister Narayan Rane called the shots in the Konkan region.

Mr. Rane reclaimed his Malvan seat last November. His feat was nearly repeated by his supporter Shanker Kambli in the neighbouring Vengurla seat when he defeated Shiv Sena's Ramesh Naik by a massive margin of 52,503 votes and made his rival lose his deposit.

In Rajapur, Rane-supporter and now Congressman Ganpat Kadam reclaimed his seat by defeating the Shiv Sena's Rajan Salvi by 3,502 votes.

The Sena nominee, Ravindra Mane, a former Minister, lost in Sangameshwar by 9,773 votes.

Though the Congress victory in these two seats were not so spectacular as in Vengurla, the outcome of the three Konkan seats established that Mr. Rane is the region's strongman.

The Shiv Sena had maintained all along that Mr. Rane's influence was confined to only his home district of Sindhudurg and hence he could sweep Malvan. They expected the Congress to win Vengurla as it falls in the same district. But the Sena leadership was sure of defeating the Congress in Sangameshwar where Mr. Mane had won thrice before. The Sena hoped for a victory in Rajapur with a slender margin. Both these seats fall in Ratnagiri district.

The victory is significant for it makes the Congress the largest party in the Assembly — 72 seats of 288, the position hitherto enjoyed by its not-so-friendly ally, the NCP that has 71 seats. Shiv Sena number has been reduced to 59. Now, two more Rane-supporters are testing their strength in the byelections scheduled on February 16. The Congress also won the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, which had fallen vacant because of the death of Prakashbapu Patil, son of the former Chief Minister, Vasantdada Patil. The Congress had fielded the late MP's son, Prateek Patil, who defeated Mr. Dinkar Patil, a Congress-rebel, by over 80,000 votes. The BJP nominee, Deepak Shinde, came a poor third.

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