Milind Deora’s exit unlikely to cause ripples in Congress

Milind Deora’s exit from the Congress is bad optics; one must wait and watch if the damage is anything more than that.

The Congress in Maharashtra is unlikely to be much affected by the well-publicised and well-timed exit of former Union Minister Milind Deora on January 14.

In his two-decade political career, Deora was among the youngest Lok Sabha MPs in 2004, and in 2019 became the president of the Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee — this was mainly attributed to his friendship with then Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the fact that the faction-ridden party wanted a non-controversial leader after Sanjay Nirupam.

It does not mean that the Congress in Maharashtra or Mumbai is a big, fat happy family. Far from it. But the fact is 47-year-old Deora is neither a mass leader who has a large following nor a shrewd political strategist. Milind Deora is the son of late Congress veteran Murli Deora, and this has helped him rise in the party structure, right from getting a party ticket to contest in 2004. The point is that unlike grassroot leaders who command the respect and loyalty of their constituency, Milind Deora’s departure is unlikely to cause a flutter, except in TV newsrooms.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, to whose Shiv Sena faction Deora joined, might have triumphantly declared that ‘it is just a trailer’, meaning an exodus is around the corner from Congress. It is unlikely that Deora commands such a loyal following among lower rungs of the Congress unit in Mumbai. 

Usually, leaders from Congress move to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra for pelf and power; the Shiv Sena (that too the Shinde faction) is an unusual choice.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who is the senior-most minister of the BJP in the state after Devendra Fadnavis, was the Congress Leader of the Opposition in the last assembly when Fadnavis was Chief Minister. Several prominent leaders from the Congress and the National Congress Party (NCP) had left for greener pastures ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

The BJP’s Maharashtra experiment appears to be floundering despite causing splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP, and now the Congress is being targeted. It is in line with the state BJP’s much-talked about aim of ‘Shat Pratishat Bhajpa’ (100 per cent BJP).

In the 2019 general elections, Mukesh Ambani batted for Milind Deora. Declaring that 'Milind is the man for South Mumbai', the Reliance Industries chairman endorsed the Congress’s South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat candidate. Uday Kotak too supported Deora. Despite these endorsements, Deora lost for the second time after 2014 from the seat once held by Murli Deora.

The Congress in Maharashtra is a house disunited, dispirited, and disillusioned. The party's state unit has been on an auto-pilot mode for some time now with the high command not maintaining a constant line with state leaders or workers. This is not how a political party that is serious about its electoral prospects is run. What keeps the Congress relevant in the state despite this neglect is the deep roots it has in many parts of Maharashtra.

Another mystery in the Congress’ ways is why are some state leaders dear to the leadership, while others are not. Mukesh Wasnik and Avinash Pande are close to the leadership, as both have been among the top AICC functionaries for much time now. It could be that both these leaders are from the Vidarbha region which is important for the Congress. Even PCC President Nana Patole and Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Vijay Wadettiwar are from the region. While Patole was earlier in the BJP, Wadettiwar was in the Shiv Sena.

Notwithstanding the internal problems, the Congress in Maharashtra had put its best foot forward when it organised the massive rally in Nagpur on December 28, the party’s foundation day, to sound the poll bugle. The successful rally has brought a new hope to the party which has fallen on bad days for the past decade. Notwithstanding several challenges, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP are raring to put up a joint fight in the general elections this summer and the assembly polls towards the end of this year.

Deora probably quit the Congress because the party was not ready to upset its equation with the Shive Sena (UBT), who leader Arvind Sawant won from the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and 2019 defeating Deora. Deora’s calculation could be to contest from the same seat, but this time as a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) candidate. On the other side, Congress’ reluctance to entertain Deora demand for the seat could work in further strengthening ties between MVA allies.

Deora also brings to the Shinde camp a corporate sophistication needed in Mumbai business circles and a national face for the faction in Delhi’s power circles. Deora could be to Shinde what Praful Patel is to Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction.

Deora’s exit from the Congress is bad optics; one must wait and watch if the damage is anything more than that.

(Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are senior journalists.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.