News Analysis India

Tag: Milind Deora

  • ‘This Is Just A Trailer’: Eknath Shinde After Milind Deora Joins Shiv Sena |

    MUMBAI: In a big setback for Congress, former Union Minister and Congress leader Milind Deora joined Shiv Sena on Sunday, prompting Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to declare that this move is just the beginning.

    Shinde Hits Out At Congress

    During a gathering in Mumbai, Chief Minister Shinde likened the event to a trailer, hinting at more prominent political figures making their way into Shiv Sena’s fold before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Shinde, drawing parallels with his own past, highlighted the critical decisions involved in such transitions.

    “I am not a doctor. Despite not being a doctor, I performed an operation one and a half years before…didn’t even have to make stitches, and the operation was done. I won’t say anything more than this…This is just a trailer, the film is yet to come in,” expressed Shinde.

    Deora’s Emotional Outburst

    Milind Deora, expressing sentiments similar to Shinde’s past, shared his feelings about the decision. The event unfolded as Deora formally joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other party leaders in Mumbai.

    Deora Pledges To Strengthen Shinde’s Leadership

    In a ceremony held at Varsha, the official residence of the Chief Minister, Deora reaffirmed his commitment to strengthen Shinde’s leadership. He praised Shinde’s vision for Mumbai and the state, expressing his intention to contribute to the party’s growth.

    “I am joining him to strengthen his hands further. Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also have a vision for the country. I want to strengthen their hands as well through the Shiv Sena,” stated Deora.

    End Of An Era: Deora Bids Farewell To 55-Year-Old Association With Congress

    With this move, Deora concluded his 55-year association with Congress, a legacy passed down from his father Murli Deora. While emphasizing his commitment to Congress, Deora explained the rationale behind his decision, citing the party’s evolving landscape.

    “I have been receiving a lot of phone calls since morning that why did I sever 55-year-old ties of my family with the Congress party…I was loyal to the party during its most challenging decade,” said Deora.

    Deora’s Reflections On Changes In Congress

    Highlighting the transformation in the Congress party, Deora emphasized the differences between the current scenario and the Congress of the past. He pointed out the importance of constructive suggestions, merit, and capability, suggesting that these factors played a role in his and Shinde’s decision to join Shiv Sena.

    As the political landscape in Maharashtra undergoes a significant shift, the entry of Milind Deora into Shiv Sena sets the stage for more twists and turns in the run-up to the upcoming elections.

  • Milind Deora Episode Shows Congress Party’s Disregard For Young Leaders |

    January 14 was to be a big day for Congress as Rahul Gandhi started his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur. However, the day was eclipsed by Milind Deora’s surprising decision to quit Congress. Deora severed his family’s five decades-old ties with the party. While Deora reportedly quit over the Mumbai South seat that Congress agreed to give to Shiv Sena-UBT, his move to quit Congress shows the grand old party’s disregard for young and dynamic leaders. The picture that you are seeing above is a testament to this. This photo has five leaders – Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada, RPN Singh, and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Except for ‘disgruntled’ Pilot, all the four leaders have left the Congress party to join the BJP or NDA allies. Let’s take a look at the timeline when key leaders quit Congress:

    11 March 2020: Scindia

    The big shock for Congress came in 2020 when Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned and joined the BJP. Once among Rahul Gandhi’s closest aides, Scindia’s move led to the fall of the Kamal Nath Government in the state. According to reports, Scindia was not happy after being sidelined for Kamal Nath by the party. Scindia not only ended his 18-year association with the Congress but also laid the ground for keeping Congress in opposition in the state. He was also among those few Congress leaders who supported the Modi government’s move to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

    9 June 2021: Jitin Prasada

    A year later, another man pictured in this photo left Congress. He was the senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jitin Prasada. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Prasada was among the G-23 leaders who raised their voices demanding overhauling of the party organisation.

    25 January 2022: RPN Singh

    Months later, former MP from Kushinagar and former union minister RPN Singh joined the BJP. It was a setback for the Congress as Singh was also the party’s in-charge for Jharkhand affairs.

    Sachin Pilot And Himanta Sarma

    Despite being upset with the party leadership, Sachin Pilot has so far kept his cards close to his chest. Just like Scindia faced Kamal Nath, Pilot has been upset with Ashok Gehlot. However, it all started in August 2015 when Himanta Biswa Sarma, a dynamic leader from Assam, left Congress and joined the BJP after being ignored by Tarun Gogoi, then CM of Assam. In all these three cases, Congress opted to stick with its senior guards like Kamal Nath, Ashok Gehlot and Tarun Gogoi. While it lost Sarma and Scindia, the party has been on its toes to keep Pilot in its flock. Today, Congress has lost ground in Assam, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It has lost connection with people in Uttar Pradesh from where RPN Singh and Jitina Prasada belong. 

    These are some of the many instances of young leaders deserting Congress. In June 2022, Hardik Patel had left Congress to join the BJP in Gujarat. In December 2022, the BJP had formally inducted former Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergil. This shows that the Congress party is not ready to accept the young leaders taking charge. It might be a fear factor within Congress that a rise of young leaders may challenge the authority of Rahul Gandhi.  When Shashi Tharoor filed for the Congress president post, the Gandhi family indirectly backed veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge who would not make any radical change in the organisation without the approval of the Gandhi family. 

    On the other hand, the BJP is not wary of giving reigns in the hands of young leaders. Today, Scindia is looking after the Union Aviation Ministry while comparatively younger faces were given CM posts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma has ensured two straight terms for the BJP.

  • ‘Vanishing’ Team Of Rahul Gandhi Faces More Challenges As INDIA Bloc Seat-Sharing Deal Turns Lethal For Congress |

    Rahul Gandhi has kicked off programs for his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur today but at the same time, his party Congress has suffered a massive setback in Maharashtra where senior party leader Milind Deora resigned from the party and has joined CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. While the Congress leaders have accused the BJP of hatching conspiracy ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra, the grand old party has turned a blind eye to a storm that is brewing within the party. 

    According to reports, Milind Deora resigned after Congress agreed to let Shiv Sena-UBT retain Mumbai South Parliamentary seat. Deora was adamant about contesting the seat and thus left the party. Deora is the first casualty of the INDIA Bloc seat-sharing deal. With the impending general elections this year, the Congress is navigating a delicate balance, aiming to steer clear of potentially embarrassing incidents akin to Sachin Pilot’s rebellion in Rajasthan—a state they recently lost in the assembly elections.

    The Mumbai South Seat is currently held by Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena, aligned with Uddhav Thackeray’s faction. Since Sena UBT won the seat when it was in alliance with the BJP, if Shinde Sena fields Deora from the seat, it might be looking at a potential winning candidate with a proven track record in the constituency. 

    For Congress, Deora’s departure marks a significant loss for the Congress, particularly in terms of shaping the party’s strategy in the region. This exit creates a void that may pose challenges to fill in the upcoming elections. 

    As the Lok Sabha election gets closer, the Congress has lost a leader of calibre who commands a significant vote share in the region. While Sawant had got around 4.21 lakh votes in the 2019 polls, Deora was runner-up with over 3 lakh votes. Deora’s exit will also have an impact on the impending Maharashtra assembly elections. 

    Deora’s exit also marks the increasing void within the Congress as leaders who were once close to Rahul Gandhi are slowly deserting the party. This includes Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hardik Patel, Ashwani Kumar, Sunil Jakhar, RPN Singh, Amarinder Singh, Jitin Prasada, and Anil Antony among others. 

    Now, the Congress party is already in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, and Trinamool Congress for seat sharing in Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Since Congress has shown a willingness to take a backseat in the seat-sharing deal, it will be ceding more seats to INDIA bloc partners and that may certainly hurt the ambition of its many leaders. If the Congress party fails to control the dissent, then more leaders may quit the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, further weakening the party. 

    The Congress has already witnessed voices of dissent over its decision to avoid the Ram Temple consecration ceremony. Leaders from across the northern belt are reportedly unhappy with the party’s move to desist from attending the Ram temple event. These issues are crucial and Congress needs a solution at the earliest. Otherwise, for a party which is almost on life-support for the last two parliamentary polls, the coming days will be more challenging.

  • Milind Deora joins growing list of young leaders leaving Congress

    Former Union minister and ex-MP from Mumbai South Milind Deora’s resignation from the Congress on Sunday is the latest addition to a list of young leaders who have left it to begin new innings in other parties, predominantly the BJP. The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

    The latest exit also highlights the disconnect and inaccessibility of the Gandhi family with the lower rung of party leadership, amid dwindling fortunes of the grand old party, which the young leaders are unable to accept.

    Sources close to Deora said he left the party after “a very long and futile wait”. The ex-Lok Sabha MP could not manage an assurance from his own party that he would get to contest from Mumbai South in the upcoming general election, a seat represented by his family for decades, the sources said.

    “The Shiv Sena UBT has been openly laying claim to Mumbai South and the Congress was unable to give an assurance of safety for Milind Deora’s seat. A young leader’s political future was thrown into uncertainty and there was no redressal,” Deora’s aides said as he ended a 55-year-old bond with the Congress in which his late father Murali Deora was a formidable figure and a petroleum minister in the UPA regime.

    Concerns cited by the Deora camp have been listed by leaders who had exited the party before. Lack of redressal of festering issues and intra party factionalism earlier led several promising leaders of the erstwhile Rahul Gandhi camp to leave. The list is long with former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot standing out as the sole exception.

    Pilot stayed back in the Congress despite non fulfilment of promises made to him by the top brass when he called off his revolt in 2020 and returned to the Congress, saying he had buried the hatchet with his bete noire Ashok Gehlot, then CM.

    Union Minister under the Congress led UPA regime Jyotiraditya Scindia was not so patient with factionalism in Madhya Pradesh unit when he resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in March 2020.

    Scindia said he could no longer take the disrespect coming from veteran Kamal Nath.

    In June 2021 another ex-UPA minister Jitin Prasada quit the Congress citing the party’s growing disconnect with the people.

    A series of exodus happened thereafter with Priyanka Chaturvedi joining erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena, former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev quitting for TMC while former union minister RPN Singh, former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and party spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill joined the BJP.

    The exits that began with then Assam Congress stalwart Himanta Biswa Sarma leaving the party for the BJP on the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha polls never really stopped and high profile resignations continued with even ex-Punjab CM Amarinder Singh also going to the BJP citing personal insults by the party ahead of Punjab polls in 2022.

    “It is impossible to get an audience with Rahul Gandhi, there is a clear disconnect and one feels suffocated,” a Deora aide said explaining his decision.

    Similar views were earlier aired by most leaders, including Sarma, at the time of their exit.

    Rahul Gandhi personally has long held a view that those who wish to quit are free to do so.

    The Congress leadership has so far chosen to explain the exits as resignations of leaders who don’t have the capacity to take on the BJP in an ideological fight.

    “Once the tide turns in our favour all these leaders will return. For them it’s individual above the party,” he said.

    The Congress also questioned the timing of Deora’s resignation, which came hours before Rahul Gandhi embarked on his ambitious Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Mumbai on Sunday.

    The BJP was quick to attack the Congress with IT cell head Amit Malviya saying, “The Congress should first give justice to its leaders rather than launch a Nyay Yatra.”

    Shergill said, “First, Assam’s general secretary (Apurba Bhattacharjee) resigned (from Congress), and now Milind Deora has too. The Congress ‘todo yatra’ has begun.”

    “Rahul Gandhi has to answer regarding the injustice he has done to the party and its leaders,” the BJP leader said.

  • Milind Deora resignation: Milind Deora resigns from Congress, ends family’s 55-year relationship with party

    Milind Deora, former Union minister, has officially tendered his resignation from the Congress party. In a statement, he expressed his decision to bring an end to his family’s 55-year-long association with the party.

    In a post shared on X, Deora announced, “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of Congress, ending my family’s 55-year relationship with the party.”

    — milinddeora (@milinddeora) Milind Deora on joining Eknath Shinde Earlier on Saturday, Deora dismissed the speculation that he was on his way out and would join the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as “rumours”.

    Deora, who recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the Shiv Sena (UBT) claiming the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency publicly, informed reporters that he is currently engaged in discussions with his supporters.

    The group led by Uddhav Thackeray had asserted its right to contest the Mumbai South constituency in the upcoming general elections, a constituency previously represented by Deora before 2014. This move has not been well-received by the Congress leader.

    In a video statement released last Sunday, Deora stated that if such declarations from an “alliance partner” persist, his party may also announce candidates for various seats.It’s worth noting that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is an alliance partner of the Congress and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) in the Maha Vikas Aghadi.Deora emphasized that formal discussions regarding the allocation of seats are yet to be concluded, and until then, no one should make premature claims or counter-claims.

    The son of Congress veteran Murli Deora, Deora secured victory in the Mumbai South seat in 2004 and 2009. However, in the subsequent elections in 2014 and 2019, he finished as the first runner-up against Shiv Sena (Undivided) leader Arvind Sawant.

  • Congress must reclaim position as India’s big tent party, says Milind Deora after Jitin exit

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Soon after his Congress colleague Jitin Prasada quit the party to join the BJP, Milind Deora on Wednesday said the Congress must reclaim its position as India’s big tent party and asserted that it still has a strong bench which, if empowered and optimally utilised, can deliver.

    A former chief of the Mumbai Congress, Deora, however, wished that several of his friends, peers and valued colleagues hadn’t left the party.

    Congress leader Prasada joined the BJP on Wednesday, in a shot in the arm for the saffron party as it prepares for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for early next year.

    In an obvious reference to the development, Deora tweeted, “I believe in @INCIndia as a party that can & must reclaim its position as India’s big tent party. We still have a strong bench that if empowered & optimally utilised, can deliver.”

    “I only wish that several of my friends, peers & valued colleagues hadn’t left us,” he said.

    Deora, Prasada, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot were once considered as the young brigade of the Congress.

    They had also served in the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre.

    Scindia and Prasada have left for the BJP, while Pilot and Deora seem to be upset over certain issues in the party and repeatedly called for course correction.