In an interview to a news website, former South Mumbai MP and Congress leader Milind Deora expressed that he may not fight the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 due to the ongoing infighting within the party.
Besides the high profile constituency that Milind represents, he is also the son of senior Congress leader Murli Deora who was Mumbai Congress president for more than 20 years. Murli Deora was known as a fundraiser for the party and a confidante of the Gandhi family. Milind is also known to be close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Mumbai Congress leaders had recently met Rahul and demanded the change in Mumbai Congress leadership. They complained that incumbent Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam did not take all communities together while taking any decisions. However, Rahul had not accepted this demand and asked them to focus on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
When contacted, Nirupam refused to comment on the matter and said that questions regarding his leadership will be discussed at an appropriate forum only.
Deora also tweeted that they will lead a powerful, united campaign across India. "Infighting cannot, and should not, be allowed to threaten our base in Mumbai. I appeal to all Congress leaders in Mumbai to unite as a team. We owe this much to our party and to Congress President Rahul Gandhi."
"I'm disappointed with what is happening - and the party is aware of my stance on fighting the Lok Sabha elections. However, I have full faith in our central leadership and its commitment to our party's ideology and principles. Especially in Mumbai, where the Congress was born," his tweet said.
"While I do not intend to discuss internal party affairs in public, remarks made in a recent interview have forced me to repeat my strong commitment towards the need for the Mumbai Congress to remain a symbol of Mumbai's diversity and to strengthen its social fabric," Deora tweeted.
Substantiating his stance further, Deora said: "If we have to remove this BJP-Shiv Sena government from Mumbai then we have to work together, whether it be me or Sanjay Nirupam or any other leader, we have to go between people and convince them that Congress is an option in Mumbai. If we don't do that it will be our loss."
Another Congress leader said that the Congress party cannot fight the elections with the divided house. "The BJP and Shiv Sena are the formidable force in Mumbai. Day by day, we are losing our strength. Rather than improving it, we are busy weakening ourselves ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Congress does not need any to finish it, we are our own enemy."
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 "Milind Deora (L) and Sanjay Nirupam")
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