Milind Deora gives 6 names for 3 member panel as suggested by him

Mumbai: Milind Deora, who resigned as Mumbai Congress chief, has recommended six names to the party leadership, three of whom could be selected to run the affairs of Mumbai Congress till the Maharashtra assembly polls.

Priya Dutt, Varsha Gaikwad, the Dharavi MLA and daughter of former Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad; Amin Patel, the Mumbadevi MLA; Bhai Jagtap, a former Congress MLA; and Aslam Shaikh from Malad West are five of the six names recommended by Deora. While Aslam Shaikh belongs to the Nirupam camp, Jagtap and Amin Patel are considered close to Milind Deora. Varsha and Priya Dutt are considered to be neutral.

With Rahul Gandhi resigning from the Congress president’s post, no decision has been taken on who will replace Deora. It is still undecided whether the latter’s formula to have a three-member panel to run the affairs of the party in Mumbai will be accepted. Congress sources said the decision may take a week or longer as there was no one in the party leadership to take this decision. Secondly, Congress leaders like Sanjay Nirupam have publicly opposed the move for a three-member panel.


A Mumbai Congress leader said while he was not in favour of the three-member panel, it would be the right way to go for the party. “Right now, there is no candidate to replace Milind who could keep multiple factions together. A three-member panel may be the way to ensure a consensus-run leadership is in place,” said a Congress leader.