As Milind Deora leaves Congress for Shinde Sena, what likely forced his hand

Senior Congress leader Milind Deora’s decision to quit the Congress on Sunday, which came hours after he dismissed the speculation, was long in the making but made public on a day when the party is scheduled to set off on a cross-country yatra from the Northeast.

The Congress claims Deora’s exit, and his scheduled entry into the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has been orchestrated by the BJP to divert attention from its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that begins from Imphal on Sunday. The party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh told The Indian Express that Deora was worried about the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, which he has contested the last four elections and represented from 2004 to 2014, going to the Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray that is now the Congress’s ally. In a recently released video, Deora advised his supporters and workers to remain calm and asked Sena not to stake a claim on any Lok Sabha constituency unless it is finalised in the seat-sharing talks.

Deora lost Mumbai South to the Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant in 2014 and 2019, abruptly quitting as the Mumbai Congress president in the middle of the Lok Sabha campaign five years ago to focus on his efforts to win back the constituency. With Sawant being one of the few MPs who decided to remain with Uddhav, the former CM is said to have pushed for the constituency to remain with his party.

Ramesh said Deora wanted him to intervene and put in a word with Rahul Gandhi. “He spoke to me on Friday. He wanted me to explain to Rahul Gandhi that his seat was going. He said he is concerned. He messaged me at 2.48 pm. I spoke to him at 3.40 pm. I told him to meet Rahul and explain,” Ramesh said.

The Mumbai South constituency has a significant Muslim population along with a