MUMBAI: Milind Deora, former MP from South Mumbai and likely Congress nominee from the same constituency for this year’s Lok Sabha polls, told anews channel on Tuesday that he may not want to fight the LS elections due to “infighting” in the Mumbai Congress unit.

He told the channel he had spoken to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in this regard and had conveyed his concerns. Later on Tuesday, Deora put out a series of tweets, saying he was “disappointed with what is happening” in the Congress’s city unit, a reference to the long simmering conflict between city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam and other leaders, among them Deora himself.

A delegation of city Congress leaders had a few months ago met Rahul Gandhi urging that Nirupam be stripped of the city chief’s post and replaced with Deora.

Deora said in one of his tweets that the Congress “is leading 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. We owe this much to our party and to Congress President Rahul Gandhi.”

He further wrote, “I’m disappointed with what is happening - and the party is aware of my stance on fighting the LS 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.”



“The Mumbai Congress cannot become a cricket pitch for sectarian politics, with leaders pitted against one other,” he added.