Congress has reacted sharply to party leader and former union minister Milind Deora’s move to resign on a day when former party president Rahul Gandhi launched the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur. Former state president and Congress Legislature Party leader in Maharashtra Balasaheb Thorat said, “Our colleague Milind Deora’s decision to leave the Congress party is regrettable. He has unsuccessfully tried to tarnish the Yatra by choosing the day of the start of the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra to resign.” “His father, late Murali Deora, a senior leader of the Congress party, would not have liked this attempt to obstruct the path of Rahulji Gandhi, who travelled 6,700 kilometres to get the justice of the ordinary, poor, oppressed people of the country, ‘added Thorat.
The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Nana Patole, on Milind’s resignation, targeted the saffron party, saying that “BJP and its allied parties are scared of Rahulji Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra starting Today. That’s why central agencies like ED, CBI, and IT are taking some of our comrades with them to divert attention from the Yatra.” “The BJP and its divisive allies, who are raising fears of a split of the Congress, are trying to divert attention from the launch of the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra by taking the two-time defeated candidate with them, but it will not succeed. This Yatra will end in Mumbai, and with the end of the Yatra, the unconstitutional Shinde BJP government will also end,” he commented.
Further, the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee President and former minister Varsha Gaikwad, who enjoys proximity with Milind, said, “Milind Devaraj’s resignation from Congress membership is unfortunate. Today, I am very saddened personally and as a Congress worker. The Deora family has a different equation from the Congress family. Muralibhai (Milind’s father) stood firmly with the party in the Congress’s ups and downs. We tried to communicate with Milindji continuously. The Congress family should stay together; that is the constant effort of all of us, along with the Congress in charge.” She added, “From today onwards, the party is starting a historic Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, and there is no greater misfortune than that they have taken this step on this very day.”
Milind had won the Mumbai South seat in 2004 and 2009. He was the first runner-up in the subsequent elections in 2014 and 2019 against Shiv Sena (undivided) leader Arvind Sawant. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told PTI that Milind had spoken with him over the phone this Friday and requested that he talk with Rahul Gandhi about his concerns over the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) laying claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat. Milind Deora and his father, Murli Deora, served as MPs from Mumbai South. “He messaged me on Friday at 8:52 AM, and then at 2:47 PM, I replied, ‘Are you planning a switch?’. At 2:48, he sent a message, ‘Is speaking to you impossible?’ I said I would call you, and at 3:40, I spoke to him,” Ramesh said. He (Milind) said he is concerned that it is a sitting Shiv Sena seat, and he wanted to meet Rahul Gandhi and explain to him about the seat and also wanted me to talk to Mr Gandhi about it,” the Congress general secretary said. “All this was a farce, and he had decided to leave.
The PM determined the timing of the announcement of his departure, “Ramesh alleged. In a post on X, Ramesh recalled his long years of association with seven-time Congress MP Murli Deora fondly. “He (Murli Deora) had close friends in all political parties but was a stalwart Congressman who ALWAYS stood by the Congress party – through thick and thin. Tathastu!” he said. Earlier, in his tweet on X Milind, he said, “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of @INCIndia, which ended my family’s 55-year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues & karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years.”
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