Milind Deora resignation: More exits to business clout to big Gujarati name, five ways it will hit Mumbai Congress

The resignation of former MP and senior party leader Milind Deorafrom the Congress is set to disrupt the party’s Lok Sabha campaign in Mumbai, just months ahead of the upcoming general elections.

The move may see several other sulking leaders within the party follow Deora’s footsteps and cause damage to the Mumbai Congress in particular. Deora joined the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Here are five possible effects Deora’s departure may have on the Mumbai unit of the Congress:

Deora, though not a mass leader, enjoys considerable clout within the Congress, especially in South Mumbai. The corporators, MLAs and leaders of this region have owed allegiance to the Deoras, including Milind’s father Murli, who was the Mumbai mayor and later a Union Cabinet minister, for generations.

His departure from the party could lead to an exodus that would damage the party considerably. At least 10 former corporators of Mumbai and leaders of South Mumbai are believed to be set to follow him to the ruling party.

A group within the Mumbai Congress has been unhappy since Varsha Gaikwad, a four-time Dharavi MLA, was made the president of the Mumbai unit of the party. This group is spread across the city and many may find opportunities to jump ship to the ruling party along with Deora, with the crossovers hence not limited to the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

In March 2019, amid infighting in the Mumbai Congress, Deora was appointed the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president. In February that year, Deora, without naming former city unit president Sanjay Nirupam, alleged that the Mumbai Congress had become “a cricket pitch of sectarian politics, with leaders pitted against one another” and even hinted at opting out of