After submitted his resignation from the grand old party on Sunday, Senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora said that he is "walking on the path of development," news agency ANI reported. He is likely to join the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde along with supporters and a few corporators.
Taking to X, Deora stated: “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of @INCIndia, ending my family’s 55-year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues & karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years."
Milind Deora offered prayers at the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai.
Deora, who lost two consecutive Lok Sabha elections to Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant in 2014 and 2019, has raised concern over the likelihood of the Mumbai South seat falling to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) seat-sharing arrangements.
He was particularly displeased with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and Aaditya Thackeray launching the electoral campaign from Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency and stating Sawant will be the candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Throughout the day on Saturday, Deora visited with his workers and sympathisers. According to Mumbai Congress sources, he has the support of a big number of politicians from south Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Congress party said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dictated the date of his resignation from the party.
"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," the Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
"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," Ramesh alleged.