'Timing Determined By PM Modi': Congress MP Jairam Ramesh As Milind Deora Quits Party

On Milind Deora's resignation from the Congress, the party's General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the timing of his departure was determined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As senior Congress leader Milind Deora quit his party just ahead of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, senior leader Jairam Ramesh pointed fingers at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the timing of Deora's departure was orchestrated by the Prime Minister. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in an interview with PTI, revealed that Deora had contacted him on Friday, expressing concerns over the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat, a constituency previously represented by both Milind Deora and his father Murli Deora. 

According to PTI, Ramesh stated, "He (Deora) said he is concerned that it is a sitting Shiv Sena seat, he wanted to meet Rahul Gandhi and explain to him about the seat and also wanted me to talk to Mr. Gandhi about it."

Ramesh further claimed that the entire conversation seemed staged, with Deora having already made up his mind to leave the party. He asserted, "Obviously all this was a farce, and he had made up his mind to leave. The timing of the announcement of his departure was clearly determined by the PM."

While speaking with ANI, Ramesh again asserted that the prime minister has decided the timing. 

Meanwhile, in a social media post on X, Ramesh paid tribute to Milind Deora's father, seven-time Congress MP Murli Deora, emphasising his unwavering loyalty to the party.

He wrote, “He had close friends in all political parties, but was a stalwart Congressman who ALWAYS stood by the Congress party — through thick and thin.”

Speaking to ANI, Ramesh stated that Murli Deora was a big leader of the Congress party and he had a friendship with all parties but he was a stalwart Congressman.

Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Eknath Gaikwad expressed her disappointment saying, "Congress and Deora family always had a unique equation. After reading his post (on X), me and the entire Congress party are deeply saddened. I and the officer-in-charge both tried to have a discussion with him (Milind Deora). We are all part of a family, and we should stick together".

Speaking to ANI, party leader Sandeep Dikshit said he would be surprised if Deora joined an alliance party of the BJP.

Over the past few days, there has been widespread speculation in political circles suggesting that he is likely to join the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. However, on Saturday, he dismissed speculations about joining the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as "rumours," according to news agency PTI.

Last Sunday, in a video statement, Deora, who was recently appointed as the joint treasurer of the All India Congress Committee, voiced his disapproval of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) staking a claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat which was represented by Milind Deora before 2014.

Milind had successfully secured the Mumbai South seat in the 2004 and 2009 elections. However, in the undivided Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, now with the Thackeray faction, had defeated Deora in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. Deora was also the head of the Mumbai Congress at one time. He served as the Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, as well as Shipping, during the Congress tenure from 2012 to 2014.