Shiv Sena, Led by Eknath Shinde, Taps Congress Defector Milind Deora for Rajya Sabha Elections

Shiv Sena, Led by Eknath Shinde, Taps Congress Defector Milind Deora for Rajya Sabha Elections

The Shiv Sena, backed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has announced Milind Deora as their candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Deora, who just left Congress and severed his family’s long-standing links to the establishment party, will submit his nomination tomorrow. Son of the late Murli Deora, a veteran Congressman, Milind Deora, a politician from Mumbai, explained his choice to join the Shiv Sena by claiming that the historic party had strayed from its organizational and ideological foundation, “fostering” caste differences and going against commercial establishments.

“The Congress has changed since my father joined in 1968 and when I joined in 2004,” he remarked. The party led by Manmohan Singh that brought forth economic changes thirty years ago now mistreats industrialists and company owners. It denounces them as anti-national and attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s actions in every way. Political pundits, however, speculated that the 47-year-old politician may have departed in a sweat because he was upset that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would win his South Mumbai seat.

Deora was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai South in 2004 and 2009, however Arvind Sawant, who ran as an undivided Shiv Sena candidate in both elections, defeated her in the subsequent general elections in 2014 and 2019. Additionally, his candidacy has ended rumors that the two would run against each other in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, albeit from different camps. Now a member of Sena (UBT), Sawant is expected to run as a joint candidate of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from Mumbai South.

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Deora’s decision came amid a wave of resignations from the Congress party, with Baba Siddique joining the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, and former chief minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan defecting to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. In Maharashtra, the Congress has suffered a serious setback with these high-profile departures. Nevertheless, the party has insisted that it won’t have an impact on its chances of winning seats in the Lok Sabha in 2024.