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 Ministry positions for Industry, Port, Employment and Self-employment; Revenue; and Industry in the Government of Maharashtra.
He was a member of Shiv Sena and opposition leader of Vidhan Sabha until July 2005, when he joined Indian National Congress party. He quit Congress in September 2017 and launched the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha. In 2018, he declared support for Bharatiya Janta Party and was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a BJP nomination. On 15 October 2019, he joined Bhartiya Janta Party and merged his party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, into the BJP.
Narayan Rane was born to Tatu Sitaram Rane and Laxmibai Rane in Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra. He dropped out from 11th grade. He has two sons: Nilesh and Nitesh Rane. Nitesh is a politician and member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Rane joined Shiv Sena in his early twenties and started his political career as local Shakha Pramukh at Chembur, Mumbai. He then became the Councillor of Kopargaon. Under the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government, Rane first received the Revenue Ministry portfolio. He succeeded Manohar Joshi as Chief Minister in 1999, when Joshi was forced to resign due to a land use controversy. Later that year, the BJP-Sena alliance led by Rane lost the October 1999 Maharashtra elections to an INC-NCP coalition. The election campaign opened a breach between Rane and Uddhav Thackeray, the president of Shiv Sena. Relations between Thackeray and Rane finally ruptured completely in 2005, when Rane submitted his resignation from the party. In response Thackeray expelled Rane from the party on 3 July 2005, accusing Rane of "gangsterism" and "betrayal of the party."