Senior Congress leader Milind Deora, considered a close friend of Rahul Gandhi, quit the grand old party on Sunday, ending his family’s 55-year association with the Congress, and joined Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai.
The resignation comes hours after he dismissed as “rumours” the speculation that he was on his way out and would join the Shiv Sena, and on the day when Mr. Gandhi launched the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, a 6,200-km cross-country march from the northeast.
The Congress leaders have attributed the sequence of events to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led ruling coalition in the State, with senior leader Jairam Ramesh claiming that the timing of Mr. Deora’s exit has been decided by Mr. Modi for “headline management” to counter the yatra. “The mahurat (auspicious moment) was decided by the guru of headline management, sitting in Lok Kalyan Marg [official residence of the Prime Minister],” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu.
“If one Milind Deora goes away, lakhs of Milinds who believe in our organisation and ideology stay,” the Congress leader said.
The former South Mumbai Lok Sabha MP, along with a battery of supporters, mostly from the business community, was welcomed to the ruling party by Mr. Shinde at Varsha, the official residence of the Chief Minister. His entry is likely to provide the party with a much-needed affable figure boasting strong ties with business leaders and Delhi’s political circles, for which the party so far had to depend on its ally, the BJP.
Soon after donning the saffron scarf, Mr. Deora called it a “very emotional day”. “I had never thought that I would quit Congress. Today, I joined Shiv Sena,” he said.
‘No negative politics’
The 47-year-old said that the Congress, which used to offer constructive suggestions for the development of the country, now has only one goal and that is to speak against Prime Minister Modi. “Tomorrow, if he [Mr. Modi] says that Congress is a very good party, they will oppose it. I believe in the politics of GAIN — growth, aspiration, inclusivity and nationalism, and not PAIN — personal attacks, injustice and negativity,” the former Union Minister said.
“I decided to quit the party [Congress] and join him [Mr. Shinde]. I don’t believe in negative politics. My ideology is to work for the people. I don’t believe in abusing people and doing negative politics. Those who have no agenda, no positive programme to take the country forward will continue to speak negatively,” said Mr. Deora, a two-time MP from the country’s richest constituency, before losing it to Arvind Sawant of the Uddhav Thackeray faction in 2014.
Part of Team Rahul
He also remembered his father and former Union Minister, the late Murli Deora’s association with Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Senior Deora was a four-term MP from the same seat before his son was elected in 2004 at 27. Mr. Deora stood out as one of India’s youngest MPs and was known to be a member of Team Rahul Gandhi, a collective of young leaders, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, R.P.N. Singh, Jitin Prasada, and Sachin Pilot. Except for Mr. Pilot, all of them have switched allegiances.
Stating that he remained loyal to the party during its most challenging decade, the former MP said: “Unfortunately, today’s Congress is very different from the Congress of 1968 as well as that of 2004. Had the Congress and the Shiv Sena given importance to constructive and positive suggestions, Mr. Shinde [who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray and became Chief Minister in alliance with the BJP] and I wouldn’t have been here. Mr. Shinde had to make a major decision, I had to make a major decision…”
Mr. Deora recently made public his displeasure over the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) staking claim to the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency. “A strong government is needed at the Centre and States in India. It is a matter of pride for all of us that under the leadership of PM Modi, India is stronger today… In the last 10 years, Mumbai has not even witnessed a single terror attack. This is a major achievement.”
Mr. Shinde said that the feelings Mr. Deora expressed today mirrored what he felt one-and-a-half years ago. “Such situations arise when a decision has to be made,” the Chief Minister said welcoming the former MP to his party.
Sources told The Hindu that after losing to the Shiv Sena in the past two elections, the electoral dynamics might have influenced the former MP to align with the Sena instead of the BJP.
However, it remains uncertain whether Mr. Deora will get party ticket, as the BJP continues to assert its claim on the high-profile seat with names such as Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and Minister Mangalprabhar Lodha doing the rounds, as the party also want to install a BJP mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. In that case, Mr. Deora might get elected to the Rajya Sabha.
While Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole mocked Mr. Deora as a “twice defeated candidate”, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad urged the former South Mumbai Lok Sabha MP to reconsider his decision, saying his family and the Congress family were one. “It is unfortunate Mr. Deora chose to quit on a day when the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra starts from Manipur. I urge him to reconsider his decision. The Congress has always stood by him,” she said.
“The Congress party and I are extremely sad at the development. The AICC in-charge and I tried to hold a dialogue with Mr. Deora [to impress upon him[ that we are family and have to be together,” said Ms. Gaikwad, an MLA from Mumbai’s Dharavi.
Baramati MP Supriya Sule of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party mocked the BJP and asked if it had no talent of its own. “The BJP and its allies are becoming the Congress, an apparent reference to leaders from the grand old party switching allegiance to the ruling side. I wonder if there is no talent in the BJP. What about those BJP workers who have toiled tirelessly for the party,” she asked.
