GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 14th Jan.The Congress said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the date for Milind Deora’s departure from the party, calling his worries about the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat a “farce.”
The Congress national secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, told news agency PTI that Deora had called him on Friday and expressed a desire to speak with Rahul Gandhi about his concerns about the Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, staking claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat.
Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT) presently holds the Mumbai South MP seat, which was formerly held by Milind Deora and his father Murli Deora.
“He messaged me on Friday at 8:52 AM and then at 2:47 PM I answered, ‘Are you planning a switch?’. He sent a message at 2:48 asking, “Is speaking to you not possible?” I told him I would contact you, and I spoke with him at 3:40, Ramesh added, according to PTI.
“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 general secretary of the Congress stated.
“Clearly, this was all a charade, and he had already decided to go. The PM explicitly set the schedule for when to announce his departure, according to Ramesh.
Deora’s resignation came hours before Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which is slated to launch from strife-torn Manipur at 12 noon.
He would be joining Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shide-led Shiv Sena along with 10 former corporators, 20 office bearers of the party from South Mumbai and leaders of significant business organisations.
Former minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat referred to Deora’s resignation as regrettable.
“Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi’s menacing attempt to quit on the eve of the second phase of the Bharat Jodo Yatra proved to be futile as well. In an X social media post, he stated, “His late father Murli Deora would also have disapproved of the attempt to cause disruptions in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which has started to protect the interests of the underprivileged and destitute.
