Milind Deora hits out at Congress, says party's economic agenda hindering India's growth

Milind Deora/ X

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora has spoken out against the Congress' economic strategy arguing that it is divisive and harmful to India's development.

Deora, who quit the Congress in January to join the Shiv Sena, criticised the party's tilt towards leftist policies in an interview with PTI. He said that the party emphasised failed communist and socialist concepts instead of encouraging innovation and investment.

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Deora, in this interview further underlined the importance of Congress's 1991 economic changes, which boosted corporate growth and wealth creation. However, he criticised the party's present attitude of using name-calling and criticising wealth producers. "It is a symptom of the fact that the Congress is moving away from its own legacy," Deora told PTI.

He was quoted in the report saying, "The Congress had an economic agenda to take India forward. Today, I find the Congress has an economic agenda which is divisive, and seeks to derail India's economic growth trajectory, when India is faced with an interesting and exciting tailwind where much of the world wants to diverge from China and invest in India."

Deora, who was a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh government, said, "We should be taking advantage of that."

The Sena leader expressed concern about the squandered opportunity amidst worldwide interest in investment in India and called for policies to capitalise on this momentum. He remarked that many in the Congress, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, may disagree with the party's present economic policy. Milind Deora noted that the Congress, led by PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, adopted the economic reforms in 1991, but the party has since backed away from them, the PTI report stated.

In addition to economic policies, Deora chastised the Congress for its stance on matters such as the repeal of Article 370 and its support for caste politics, which he says contradicts the party's founding values.

"Article 370 was a temporary provision in the Constitution, but the Congress veered away from it," Deora told PTI and further said, "The Congress fought against caste politics, but today the party is advocating it."

Milind Deora and his late father, Murli Deora, were both Mumbai Congress presidents, providing a unique viewpoint on the party's development.