In a significant political development, former Congress leader Milind Deora joined the Shiv Sena on Sunday, ending his family’s 55-year-long association with the Congress.
According to media reports, Deora arrived at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s official residence on Sunday afternoon and joined the ruling party in the CM’s presence in Mumbai.
Deora, who was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha from the Mumbai South constituency and also served as the President of the Mumbai Regional Congress committee, tweeted on Sunday morning, “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress, ending my family’s 55-year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues and karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years.”
The South Mumbai seat became a bone of contention for UBT Shiv Sena and Congress. Congress demanded the seat, claiming that Sawant only won the seat because of Sena’s alliance with BJP.
Uddhav’s Sena shot back that Sawant could win the seat on his own. During a meeting, Sawant, who had defeated Deora in the 2019 election, and Deora were involved in a heated exchange.
Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that the timing of the announcement of Deora’s departure from the party was determined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as stated by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
This comes at a time when Congress is supposedly trying to weave a nationwide coalition of parties that see the BJP-led coalition as a rival.
Deora, unhappy with the seat-sharing formula hammered out by the INDIA alliance, decided to join Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde.
He has held several positions in the party, including the post of Union Minister of State (MoS) for Communications & Information Technology and Shipping in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet in the UPA 2.0 government.
(Edited by : Vivek Dubey)
