Having the protracted family association with Congress party for the last 55 years with his father Murli Deora always in close proximity to the Gandhi family due to his high connections with the ultra rich of Mumbai, former union minister and two term Lok Sabha member of parliament Milind Deora’s sudden joining of Shiv Sena ( Shinde) on the day his old friend and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi commenced his 4700 kilometre long padyatra from Thoubal, Imphal has not only rebuffed Congress party and its leaders but had also killed the wide coverage Rahul Gandhi could have acknowledged had he ( Milind) not chosen the same day for his defection.
Former union minister Milind Deora who was earlier the member of Rahul Gandhi’s coterie comprising of Jyotiraditya Scindia, R. P. N. Singh, Jitin Prasada, Sachin Pilot etc had joined the Shiv Sena ( Shinde) considered to be the real Shiv Sena as ruled by Maharashtra speaker a day before yesterday with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde welcoming him to his party, assuring him to make him the Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra likely to fall vacant shortly, in the coming months when Shiv Sena ( UBT) RS MP Anil Desai’s term is expiring.
Formerly, the South Mumbai Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora was almost inactive in Congress politics after having lost the parliamentary election in 2014.
He was seldom seen in party’s local programmes in Mumbai having become active after a long spell when the meeting of I. N. D. I. A. was held in Mumbai recently where all the senior and top leaders of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, several CMs like Nitish and Mamata Banerjee and various party heads had arrived participating in the third round of INDIA meet.
However, Milind Deora was unhappy with Rahul Gandhi, former Congress chief for not taking any firm stand for him against Shiv Sena ( UBT) claiming the South Mumbai seat for Deora family from where the SHIV SENA had staked its claim not compromising with Congress.
The South Mumbai parliamentary seat was with the Deora family from where Milind Deora, was lok Sabha MP for two terms from 2004 and 2009 having lost in 2014.
His father Murli Deora who was also union minister during earlier tenures of Congress represented this constituency for three terms.
This means the Deora father – son duo have represented this seat in Lok Sabha for five terms.
Milind Deora felt sort of politically orphaned after the Shiv Sena staked its claim on this seat not compromising with Congress, therefore sidelining Milind Deora since 2014.
Presently Arvind Ganpath Sawant of Shiv Sena ( UBT) is the elected MP from South Mumbai, the seat held before 2014 by Milind Deora twice and his father thrice.
Milind Deora kept high hopes thinking that his friend and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will take a stand for him in the South Mumbai seat but of no avail.
He was badly demoralised having gone into sort of political oblivion for the last eight years having seldom attended even Congress programmes in Mumbai.
Keeping in view his father’s close emotional proximity with the Gandhi family and the award bestowed to him and his father by the Gandhi Nehru family by inducting both of them in the Union cabinet and honouring them to the hilt till 2014, it was extremely difficult for Milind Deora to betray Congress and take this bold decision to join Shiv Sena, a regional party , rather a faction of Shiv Sena original.
He was thinking of joining the BJP but sources reveal that after he was offered the Rajya Sabha seat by the current CM of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde he had no option but to resign forthwith and join Shiv Sena than BJP.
It may be recalled that Congress has already lost many of its young Turks who were Rahul’s close team of dynasts who were awarded political positions because of their fathers being proactive in Congress politics for long enjoying ministerial positions always.
Madhav Rao Scindia, Jitin Prasada and Milind Deora are these dynasts who enjoyed power and position in Congress governments despite being politically novice but left the party in lurch when Congress was out of power.
Former minister ( home) and Rahul Gandhi’s close confidante once from a king family RPN Singh and several others have also joined the saffron party bandwagon showing the thumb of betrayal to Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi who were promoted and awarded with ministerial positions despite their being incompetent.
Today, Congress is in disarray and Rahul Gandhi is trying his best through his Padyatras to canvass support for Congress at the pan India level leaving his president ship and even lust for prime minister’s post conceding it for veteran Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge nominated as the chairperson of I. N. D. I. A. .
His earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was a grand succes though not not able to translate the support elicited into votes having lost all the four states out of five in the recently held assembly elections. His next dashing move of Bharat Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Delhi covering 4700 kilometres and 15 states started two days ago in the chilling winters is yet his brave new exercise when general elections are round the corner.
However, It remains to be seen whether this Nyay Yatra of Rahul would be a success or meet the same fate of the massive defeat in four assembly elections in Hindi heartland states in the assembly elections held recently. Fingers crossed.
