NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Milind Deora, who ended his decades-long association with Congress on Sunday, has formally joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai.
The announcement came after Deora met the chief minister at the latter’s official residence ‘Varsha‘ in Mumbai.
Earlier, the Maharashtra CM had said that his Shiv Sena faction will welcome Deora if he chooses to join the party.
“I have heard about his move. If he is joining the party, I will welcome him,” Shinde had said earlier.
Deora, whose father Murli Deora was a Congress veteran, ended his family’s 55-year-long relationship with the grand old party after a “long and futile wait”, sources close to him said.
The former South Mumbai MP took to X to say that he has resigned from the primary membership of the party and will “take the path of development”.
“I am going walking on the path of development,” Deora said as he stepped out of his house with wife Pooja to visit Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi to offer prayers.
Deora’s aides said that the leader was unable to get assurance from Congress about his political future.
“The Shiv Sena UBT has been openly laying claim to Mumbai South and the Congress was unable to give an assurance of safety for Milind Deora’s seat. A young leader’s political future was thrown into uncertainty and there was no redressal,” Deora’s aides said.
Expressing the frustration felt by Deora, another one of his aide said that it is “impossible to get an audience with Rahul Gandhi“.
“There is a clear disconnect and one feels suffocated.”
Deora has joined a growing list of young Congress leaders who have left the grand old party in recent months over similar reasons.