Milind Deora, who quit Congress, to join Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena today: Full itinerary

Milind Deora, the former Union minister who resigned from the Congress, will join the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday. In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the former South Mumbai Lok Sabha MP said, "Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey. I have tendered my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress, ending my family's 55 year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues and karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years."

The resignation comes even as speculation was rife in political circles over the past few days that Milind Deora, the son of Congress stalwart late Murli Deora, would join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Along with Milind Deora, 10 former municipal corporations, 25 senior party functionaries and 20 top trader and merchant unions will also join the Shiv Sena. About 400 workers will also be joining the Shiv Sena under the leadership of Deora in Varsha on Sunday.

Milind Deora to join Shiv Sena today: Full itinerary

• At 10.30am, Milind Deora will leave from his residence - Ramalayam - for Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai - where MLA Sada Sarvankar will be present.
• At 11am, Deora will offer prayers at Siddhivinayak temple.
• Around noon, he will pay respect at Balasaheb Thackeray statue at Regal Cinema.
• At 12.30pm, he will arrive at Ramalayam.
• Around 1.30pm, Deora will leave for the official residence of Eknath Shinde's Varsha bungalow in Malabar Hill.
• At 2pm, at Paksh Pravesh, Shinde will be present along with senior ministers and party leaders.

Deora, who was recently appointed the joint treasurer of the All India Congress Committee, had expressed disapproval at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) laying claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat.

The undivided Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, now with the Thackeray faction, had defeated Deora in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Deora was also the head of the Mumbai Congress earlier.

What Congress said Milind Deora's resignation

The Congress alleged that the timing of the announcement of Deora's departure from the party was determined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told news agency PTI that Deora, the former minister of state in the ministry of information and broadcasting, had spoken with him over phone this Friday and requested that he wanted to speak with Rahul Gandhi about his concerns over the Shiv Sena (UBT) laying claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat. Both Deora and his father Murli Deora had served as MPs from Mumbai South.

“He messaged me on Friday at 8:52 AM and then at 2:47 PM I replied, ‘Are you planning a switch?’. At 2:48 he sent a message, ‘is speaking to you not possible?’ I said I will call you and at 3:40, I spoke to him,” Ramesh said.

“He (Deora) said he is concerned that it is a sitting Shiv Sena seat, he wanted to meet Rahul Gandhi and explain to him about the seat and also wanted me to talk to Mr. Gandhi about it,” Ramesh said.

“Obviously, all this was a farce and he had made up his mind to leave. The timing of the announcement of his departure was determined by the PM,” the senior Congress leader alleged.

In a post on X, Ramesh recalled his long years of association with seven-time Congress MP Murli Deora with great fondness.