Former Union minister Milind Deora ended his family's 55-year relationship with Congress on Sunday after he announced his resignation from the party's primary membership. Earlier, he dismissed speculations of cutting ties with the party as “rumours”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Deora wrote, “Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of @INCIndia, ending my family’s 55-year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues & karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years.”
Also read: BJP jabs Rahul Gandhi as Milind Deora quits Congress: ‘First do nyay to party leaders’
The outgoing senior Congress leader is set to join Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena today along with 400 of his supporters.
The former Union minister is the son of Congress veteran Murli Deora, and his family has had over five decades of long-standing association with the grand old party.
End of over a five-decade-long era:
- The father-son duo have collectively had an expansive stint in the Congress, beginning with senior Deora working his way up to the Cabinet position from being a member of the Bombay municipal corporation.
- Murli Deora was a former mayor of Mumbai in 1977-78 and later went on to become the chief of Congress' city unit for two decades.
- Senior Deora was a close confidant of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and was a trusted aide of the Gandhi family. He organised a successful roadshow for the former PM in 1991.
- The industrialist-social worker-turned-politician, Murli Deora was known for bringing the grand old party to Maharashtra. He won four Lok Sabha elections and became the Rajya Sabha member in 2004.
- He then became the Union petroleum minister in then-PM Manmohan Singh's Cabinet. He also remained the chief of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee for 22 years, from 1981 to 2003.
- Similarly, Milind Deora also had an illustrious stint with Congress and was elected as one of the youngest MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha.
- Between 2011 and 2014, Milind Deora was the Union minister of state for communication and information technology and in 2012, he was given an additional responsibility as junior Union minister of shipping.
- Junior Deora was earlier a member of the Standing Committee on Defence along with the Consultative Committee on Defence and Urban Development.
- He studied at Sydenham College and later completed his bachelor's of business administration from Questrom School of Business at Boston University.