Congress distrusts Uddhav-led Shiv Sena and yet surrendered to it: Milind Deora

Mumbai: Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora has claimed that Congress, his former party, ceded too much ground to the Shiv Sena (UBT) while striking a seat-sharing deal for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra and especially in Mumbai.

The former Mumbai Congress chief, who crossed over to the rival Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier this year, also said he was ready to contest from the Mumbai South constituency -- which he represented as Congress MP from 2004 to 2014 -- if his new party wanted.

"Congress has unfortunately surrendered to a party which it neither trusts, nor values as an alliance partner. I know what the Congress party feels about Uddhav Thackeray," Deora told PTI in an interview earlier this week.

Under the seat-sharing agreement of the Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), Uddhav Thackeray's party will contest Mumbai South, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai North-East and Mumbai North-West seats, leaving only two seats --- Mumbai North and Mumbai North-Central -- for the Congress.

This did not go down well with the local leadership of Congress which traditionally contested five of the six seats in Mumbai. After the seat-sharing deal was finalised, the party's city unit chief Varsha Gaikwad voiced her disgruntlement openly.

"I know very well what they (Congress leaders) felt when the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance was being formed (in 2019), and I know they still feel the same way," he claimed.

By giving in to the Sena (UBT)'s demands, the party did a huge disservice not to its leaders but to its "karyakartas" (workers), Deora said.

Last month, Sanjay Nirupam, another former Mumbai Congress president, too had accused the party of surrendering to the Sena (UBT). He was subsequently expelled from Congress.

Deora, whose father and former Union minister, late Murli Deora also headed Mumbai Congress once, further said the city unit of the party was different from the Congress organisation in other parts of the country.

"The Congress here reflected the ethos of Mumbai which is inclusive, diverse, innovative, robust and dynamic. Unfortunately, the kind of leaders the party elected, and were made (Mumbai) Congress president did not reflect these ethos. It is symptomatic of a larger problem in New Delhi," he said.