The Congress party suspended Sanjay Nirupam, the head of its Mumbai unit, for a period of six years. This move came soon after Nirupam gave the party a ‘one-week ultimatum’ over the Mumbai North-West seat.
Nirupam is expected to join the Shiv Sena, which is led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, according sources with knowledge of his plans. According to insiders, “He has decided to leave the Congress and seeks to contest from a Mumbai seat, likely to be offered by the Shinde Sena.”
In an official statement, Venugopal noted, “Considering the complaints of indiscipline and anti-party remarks, the Hon’ble Congress President has sanctioned the expulsion of Shri Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect.”
Following this announcement, Sanjay Nirupam took to X (formerly Twitter) and asserted that he would personally make the decision to part ways with the party. He stated, “Congress Party should not spend too much energy and stationery on me. Instead, utilize it to salvage the party. Besides, the party is grappling with a severe financial crisis. The one-week deadline I had set has elapsed today. Tomorrow, I will make the decision myself.”
The Mumbai North-West seat was allocated to the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate, Amot Kirtikar. Nirupam, who previously represented Mumbai North in the Lok Sabha in 2009, expressed his belief that the Shiv Sena’s decision to field candidates in Mumbai was aimed at sidelining the Congress party.
It’s important to highlight that Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament, following Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP clinched 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 seats.