Milind Deora latest young Congress leader to leave party for greener pastures

Former Union Minister and ex-MP from Mumbai South Milind Deora’s resignation from the Congress on January 14 is the latest addition to a list of young leaders who have left it to begin new innings in other parties, predominantly the BJP.

Former Union Minister and ex-MP from Mumbai South Milind Deora's resignation from the Congress on January 14 is the latest addition to a list of young leaders who have left it to begin new innings in other parties, predominantly the BJP.

The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The latest exit also highlights the disconnect and inaccessibility of the Gandhi family with the lower rung of party leadership, amid dwindling fortunes of the grand old party, which the young leaders are unable to accept.

Sources close to Mr. Deora said he left the party after "a very long and futile wait".

The ex-Lok Sabha MP could not manage an assurance from his own party that he would get to contest from Mumbai South in the upcoming general election, a seat represented by his family for decades, the sources said.

"The Shiv Sena UBT has been openly laying claim to Mumbai South and the Congress was unable to give an assurance of safety for Milind Deora's seat. A young leader's political future was thrown into uncertainty and there was no redressal," Deora's aides said as he ended a 55-year-old bond with the Congress in which his late father Murali Deora was a formidable figure and a petroleum minister in the UPA regime.

Concerns cited by the Deora camp have been listed by leaders who had exited the party before.