Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora announced his resignation from the post on Sunday and said he was looking forward to play a role at the national level to help stabilise the party. He recommended setting up of a provisional collective leadership comprising three senior Congress leaders to oversee the city party unit till the Maharashtra Assembly polls which are due later this year.

A statement issued by his office said taking on the BJP-Shiv Sena and negating the impact of Vanchit Aghadi is a challenge for the Congress in Maharashtra. Milind Deora expressed his desire to quit shortly after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on June 26 in New Delhi. "The same has been conveyed to All India Congress Committee general secretaries Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal," the statement said. When contacted, he stated political realities have changed since the Lok Sabha results. "We all will have to get ready for roles that these times demand," he said.