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Maharashtra polls: ‘Won’t resign but can’t stay for long’, says Sanjay Nirupam after no campaign threat
Sanjay Nirupam, the former chief of faction-ridden Congress’ Mumbai unit, had lashed out at the party on Thursday for denying a ticket to one of his loyalists and threatened not to campaign for the party ahead of the state polls.
A day after saying he will not campaign for the Congress during the Maharashtra assembly elections, senior leader Sanjay Nirupam said on Friday his party does not value or take cognisance of his contributions.
Sanjay Nirupam, the former chief of faction-ridden Congress’ Mumbai unit, had lashed out at the party on Thursday for denying a ticket to one of his loyalists and threatened not to campaign for the party ahead of the state polls.
“I don’t think I would want to leave the party. But if things within the party continue to be like this, then I don’t think I can be in the party for long. I will not take part in the election campaign,” Sanjay Nirupam said during a press conference on Friday.
The Congress hasn’t announced all the candidates for the Mumbai assembly seats.
Congress had removed Sanjay Nirupam as Mumbai Congress president ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and replaced him with Milind Deora, who resigned from the post following the party’s defeat in Mumbai in Lok Sabha elections. The party had failed to win even a single of the six seats in Mumbai.
Nirupam and Deora often don’t see eye to eye.
Nirupam was the Congress candidate from the Mumbai North West constituency in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year. He lost to Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar by more than 200,000 votes.
Voting on Maharashtra’s 288 assembly seats is scheduled for October 21. The votes will be counted on October 24.
