Will not compromise on core beliefs: Milind Deora

Responding to speculations in media and social media over his appreciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recent Houston address, former Mumbai Congress

Responding to speculations in media and social media over his appreciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recent Houston address, former Mumbai Congress chief and former south Mumbai MP Milind Deora said nothing more should be read into it and he would not compromise on his core beliefs.

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Deora said his comments were out of his bipartisan stand on issues of national interest and foreign policy. “For those who have already imagined and chartered my forward path, I wish to give you one unambiguous answer: I will serve my country to the best of my ability and I will remain bipartisan when it comes to issues of national interest and foreign policy. I will not compromise on my core beliefs even though politics continues to become increasingly uncharitable and partisan,” he said in a statement.

Deora had tweeted on Sunday after PM’s Houston address, saying the address was momentous for India’s soft power diplomacy. He had said that his father Murli Deora was the early architect of deeper Indo-US ties. In response, Modi had thanked Deora and remembered the late Murli Deora, as a friend who was committed to strong ties with the USA.

After the series of tweets, speculations went northward about Deora parting ways with his party. He has been keeping himself away from the party affairs after his resignation as the Mumbai unit chief was accepted by interim party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Deora’s statement read: “I have noticed several reports making unfounded speculations over the exchange of tweets between Shri Narendra Modi and me. I have inherited the legacy of the Indo-United States relationship from my late father Shri Murli Deora. My father first visited the US in 1968 as an exchange student, and after meeting Robert F Kennedy, decided to enter public life and build stronger ties between both democracies. My family’s relationships with institutions, political parties and leaders were built keeping India’s interests in mind.”