Why Congress won't miss Milind Deora much

New Delhi: Much ado about nothing is how former union minister Milind Deora's exit from Congress can easily be described. 

Deora, 47, joined the Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. 

A two-term Lok Sabha member, Deora was recently named as the joint treasurer of the Congress. He had also served as the head of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee. 

He won his first Lok Sabha elections from the South Mumbai constituency in 2004 and followed it up with another win in 2009. In both the elections, the Congress had done well.

In 2004, the grand old party trumped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) riding on the 'India Shining' campaign and retained power in 2009 due to some of its welfare schemes, primarily the National Employment Rural Guarantee Programme or NREGA. 

He lost in 2014 when the Congress suffered its worst-ever electoral drubbing. He again lost in 2019 despite strong endorsements from the corporate world, including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and banker Uday Kotak. 

It is said in the Mumbai Congress circles that Deora was mulling to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but it didn't materialise. In fact, former finance minister Arun Jaitley had asked Deora to join the BJP in 2014.

As it became clear that the Congress would leave the South Mumbai constituency for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena since its leader Arvind Sawant had won the seat twice, Deora became restless and started exploring other options. 

He is said to have held a few rounds of discussions with leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before deciding to join the Eknath Shinde's party. 

Deora had vehemently opposed any tie-up between the Congress and the Shiv Sena in 2019 after two parties along with the NCP formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena had then snapped its ties with the BJP over the power-sharing issue. 

Deora's exit has once again highlighted the restlessness among the young dynasts and once considered very close to Rahul Gandhi. 

It is evident now that they cannot remain out of power for long. Take for example Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasaad and RPN Singh. Despite being given key organisational responsibilities in the Congress, they switched over to the BJP only in search of greener pastures. 

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot was on the verge of leaving the Congress. He nearly brought down the Congress government in Rajasthan in July 2020. 

Then there are a few others who were given prominence in the party such as Sushmita Dev, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Jaiveer Shergill and Anil Antony but still chose to move on. 

While Scindia is now a union minister, Prasada is a minister in Uttar Pradesh. RPN Singh is still waiting for his rehabilitation. 

The timing of Deora's shift is significant. He strategically chose the day of his resignation from the Congress and joining the Shiv Sena of Eknath Shinde. It coincided with the launch of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Rahul Gandhi from Manipur on Sunday, the day he hogged the headlines in print and electronic media. 

However, Deora's exit is unlikely to have any impact on the Congress in Maharashtra as he had been inactive in state politics since 2019. 

Even political observers question his relevance in future Mumbai or Maharashtra politics.