Sanjay Nirupam lashes out at Uddhav over announcement of Mumbai North West seat

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam upset as Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray declares Amol Kirtikar as MVA candidate from Mumbai North West without final seat-sharing pact.

Mumbai: Congress leader and former member of Parliament MP Sanjay Nirupam is upset after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray declared Amol Kirtikar as MVA candidate from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. Nirupam, who was also trying to contest from the same constituency, came out all guns blazing against Thackeray for declaring a candidate without a seat-sharing pact being finalised by the three parties— Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT).

Mumbai, India – Novermber 17, 2017: Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam addressing to media at MRCC office, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, November 17, 2017. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT)

He also targeted Kirtikar over his name as an accused in the Khichdi scam of the BMC and questioned the announcement. He then urged Thackeray to withdraw the announcement.

On Saturday, Thackeray during his visit to a party shakha declared Kirtikar’s name as an MVA candidate from Mumbai North West constituency.

There are around 8-9 seats on which consensus among the three parties is yet to be made and Mumbai North West constituency is one of them. In that case, announcing a candidate isn’t a violation of the alliance mandate? Did he want to humiliate Congress? The top Congress leadership should intervene,” he said, commenting on Thackeray.

He then took a dig at Kirtikar and said, “He is an accused in Khichdi scam. He has taken bribes from Khichdi suppliers in cheques. The Khichdi scam was done during COVID-19 BMC decided to provide food to the migrant labourers in the city. Shiv Sena’s proposed candidate has taken commission from the supplier under the scheme initiated to feed the poor.”

He also pointed out an investigation into the scam by the enforcement directorate.

Hours later, Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad also clarified that the seat-sharing formula was yet to be decided. I want to clarify that the discussion related to Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai is in the final stages and no decision has been made yet,” she explained in a tweet.

Nirupam wants to contest the general elections from the Mumbai North West constituency. He was elected as an MP from the Mumbai North constituency in 2009.