Congress Turncoat Milind Deora Is Now Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha Candidate From Maharashtra

He will file his nomination tomorrow. (File Image: PTI)

Shiv Sena on Wednesday nominated Milind Deora as their candidate for Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra. He will file his nomination tomorrow. The development comes a month after he quit Congress and joined the Shiv Sena, ending his family’s 55-year-old relationship with the grand old party.

Deora took to microblogging site X and wrote, “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of Indian National Congress, 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.”

Talking to the media over his resignation from Congress, Deora said, “I am walking on the path of vikas (development).”

The resignation came a day after Deora, the ex-MP of Mumbai South dismissed “rumours” of his quitting the grand old party.

Deora’s resignation came on the day when ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’– the Congress’s second large-scale outreach programme led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, is set to began.

“At least 10 former municipal corporators, 25 senior Congress functionaries, 20 top trader and merchant unions, and 400 party workers will also join Shiv Sena under Deora’s leadership at Varsha today,” sources said.

WHO IS MILIND DEORA?

Son of Congress veteran Murli Deora, Milind Deora had won Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai South seat in 2004 and 2009. He, however, faced defeat in the subsequent elections of 2014 and 2019 against the then Shiv Sena (Undivided) leader Arvind Sawant–who is now one of the few Uddhav Thackeray loyalists.

The seat was also held by the late Union Minister Murli Deora at least four times in the past, and was seen as a Congress stronghold in Mumbai for several years.