Milind Deora quits Congress, likely to join Shinde-led Sena

I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues & karyakartas for their…

— Milind Deora | मिलिंद देवरा ☮️ (@milinddeora) January 14, 2024

Deora is the son of late Congress leader Murli Deora.

Considered a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, Deora made the announcement of quitting the Congress on the day the latter starts his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra — the second part of his earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra — from east to west India. Started from Manipur, the Yatra is scheduled to conclude in Mumbai in March.

Deora was a minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, but lost his Mumbai South seat to Sena candidate Arvind Sawant twice, in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections. He was made a joint treasurer of the All India Congress Committee on 24 December.

Expressing disappointment at Deora’s decision to leave the Congress, Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad told ThePrint, “This is a very unfortunate decision and I am personally hurt.”

“The relationship between Congress and Deora family is very deep. And we, including the Maharashtra in-charge, leaders in Delhi, tried to convince him otherwise,” she added.

Talking about the timing of the announcement, she said, “It is most unfortunate that the decision was taken on the day the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is starting. We all are fighting against the conditions in the country, and Rahul Gandhi is bringing everyone together. And that’s why I am more hurt that this decision was taken today.”

Disappointment over Deora’s decision was also expressed by Maharashtra Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat, who took to the social media platform X (previously Twitter), to post, “Our colleague Milind Deora’s decision to quit the party is unfortunate. He has unsuccessfully tried to tarnish the Yatra by choosing the day of the start of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to resign. His father wouldn’t have liked this attempt.”

Deora had been reportedly unhappy with the possibility of incumbent MP Arvind Sawant — a member of Congress ally Shiv Sena (UBT) — being fielded from the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat for the 2024 elections. The constituency was held by Deora’s  family for 40 years.

However, Gaikwad said that if seat-sharing was the reason behind his decision to quit, he should have waited until discussions were finalised.

“So far the seat-sharing talks are not finalised. So why did he not wait? We have been continuously talking on various seats. This is a wrong move in my opinion. If Murli bhai (Murli Deora) had been alive, he would not have taken such a decision as he stayed with Congress in good and bad times. The party has given so much to the family,” she added.

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Deora’s growing discontent

Last month, Deora had a spat with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, when the latter said that his party would contest 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, and the seat-sharing talks with the Congress have to “start from zero”.

Deora responded by saying, “I want to tell Sanjay Raut that any alliance cannot move forward without consultation with the Maharashtra Congress leadership.” He also objected to Raut’s contention that, despite losing 40 MLAs to the Shinde faction — following a rebellion in the erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena, which split the party into two —  Shiv Sena (UBT) is the largest party in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had formed government in Maharashtra in 2019, till a rebellion by present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in 2022, not only caused the Sena to split but also the MVA government to collapse. The Shinde faction then went on to form government in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They were joined by a group of NCP leaders, led by Ajit Pawar, last year.

Meanwhile, Deora and Shiv Sena (UBT) continued to lock horns over the Mumbai South constituency.

Deora was reportedly also unhappy when Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray held a rally in the constituency earlier this month. In a video statement issued last Sunday, Deora said Mumbai South has traditionally been with the Congress and the Deoras are associated with this constituency for years.

“My family is connected with voters here based on the work done by us and this relationship developed over the years,” said Deora.

This is not the first time Deora has been at odds with others in the alliance, or even within the Congress.

In 2019, a spat between former Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam and Deora had been reported. In a post on social media, Deora had then said, “While I do not intend to discuss internal party affairs in public, remarks made in a recent interview have forced me to repeat my strong commitment towards the need for the Mumbai Congress to remain a symbol of Mumbai’s diversity and to strengthen its social fabric.”

After losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Deora stepped down from the post of Congress’s Mumbai chief saying he wanted to play a national-level role.

Even in 2022, during the Rajya Sabha elections, Deora had expected his nomination from Maharashtra, but Imran Pratapgarhi was chosen over him, causing “unrest and panic” among the local unit. There had also been speculations at the time that Deora might resign. 

(Edited by Richa Mishra)