Days after Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president, in the wake of the drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha election, party Mumbai president Milind Deora on Sunday announced his resignation from his post, hinting he may take up an important responsibility in Delhi.
This move comes as an expression of solidarity and collective responsibility with Mr. Gandhi’s resignation.
“I had accepted MRCC presidentship in the interest of uniting the party. I felt I should also resign after meeting Rahul Gandhi. I suggested a panel and am being consulted by leaders to identity names. I look forward to playing a national role to help stabilise the party. Needless to say, I will continue to guide and unite Mumbai Congress” said Mr. Deora in a statement issued by his office.
The Congress had suffered losses in all six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai. Barely a month before polls, Mr. Deora was appointed as a replacement of former city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam.
Collective leadership
While resigning from his post, Mr. Deora recommended a provisional set-up of a collective leadership of three senior leaders to oversee the city unit until the coming Assembly poll.
In the statement, Mr. Deora said that taking on the BJP-Shiv Sena and negating the impact of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi was a challenge for the Congress in Maharashtra.
Mr. Deora expressed his desire to quit shortly after meeting Mr. Gandhi in New Delhi on June 26. “The same has been conveyed to Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal, general secretaries, All-India Congress Committee,” the statement said.
During his short tenure, he united the rank and file of the party and put an end to identity politics in Mumbai Congress, in the hope that the party would once again return to its multilingual, multicultural and socio-economically inclusive ideals. “The party, under his leadership, gave a decisive fight to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in Mumbai,” it said.
“Deora is always available to serve the party as a trusted and resourceful lieutenant and looks forward to playing a more important role nationally,” it said.
