Explainer: Why Milind Deora quit Congress

Once considered Team Rahul member, former Union minister Milind Deora on Sunday quit the Congress "to walk the path of development".
Hours later, he joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.
He won the Mumbai South seat in 2004 and 2009 but lost to Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant in the 2014 and 2019 polls.
Reasons behind exit
Deora, 47, son of Congress stalwart Murli Deora, said he ended the "55 years old association" of the family with the party.
Deora was recently appointed the joint treasurer of the Congress but he criticised the party's shift from economic reforms under Manmohan Singh to targeting businessmen.
His dissatisfaction grew due to uncertainty over nomination for the Mumbai South seat in 2024, claimed by Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray.
The timing
Deora's resignation happened the day Rahul Gandhi began his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur.
His exit adds to the Congress's pre-poll challenges in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance ahead of the civic, Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Not the first
Deora's resignation highlights the growing disaffection among the generation of leaders considered part of Team Rahul not long ago.
Among the prominent 'Young Brigade' members to quit the Congress after 2019 have been Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Sushmita Dev, RPN Singh, Sunil Jakhar and Jaiveer Shergill.
The trend, however, began with Himanta Biswa Sarma in 2014. Most of the leaders quitting the party — including Captain Amarinder Singh — blamed the Gandhi family for their departure from the party.
What Congress says
While Rahul Gandhi has maintained that those wishing to leave are free to do so, several Congress leaders blame the BJP for the turn of events.