Uddhav fielding a ‘khichdi chor’: Sanjay Nirupam's dig over Shiv Sena (UBT)
Sanjay Nirupam said the declaration of Amol Kirtikar's candidacy for Mumbai North-West seat was a 'violation of alliance dharma'.
Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday launched a vitriolic attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) for independently announcing the candidates on the four Mumbai seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, saying that the party has deliberately fielded a 'khichdi chor' from the seat where he was presenting a strong candidature.

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While expressing his discontent over the candidates' announcement, Nirupam said the declaration of Amol Kirtikar's candidacy for Mumbai North-West seat was a 'violation of alliance dharma'.
"The candidate that Shiv Sena has fielded from northwest Mumbai - where I was presenting a strong candidature - took bribes from the contractor in COVID Khichdi scam. ED is probing it...Shiv Sena is deliberately fielding such a 'Khichdi chor'. This has hurt Congress cadres. I am upset too. I am sad that our negotiators didn't present Congress party's stand strongly...Shiv Sena (UBT) has attempted to suppress Congress," news agency ANI quoted Nirupam as saying.
The senior Congress leader also urged the grand old party to consider pulling the plug on their alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) as the latter is attempting to suppress and finish the Congress in Mumbai.
Read here: Sanjay Nirupam's ‘all options open’ warning as trouble mounts for MVA after Shiv Sena (UBT) list
"The arbitrary manner in which Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced candidates on 4 out of the 6 Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai has upset the Congress cadre. Mumbai Congress leadership is very upset. Voters of Congress will also be upset due to the same. I would like to demand from our top leadership that they should take a stand against this decision of the Shiv Sena," he added.
Nirupam further urged the Congress first to break the ties and contest the polls on the disputed seats in a friendly manner. "There are just two options - First, break off the alliance. Second, have a friendly fight. Congress should field candidates for the seats on which we have a dispute and have not reached a solution..." he added
Shiv Sena (UBT) releases 1st list of candidates:
Nirupam's remarks came hours after Shiv Sena (UBT), a constituent of the opposition MVA, released its first list of 17 candidates in Maharashtra and said it would contest 22 of the 48 seats in the state.
Kirtikar, son of MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who has been named as the candidate from Mumbai North-West seat, was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged irregularities in the distribution of 'khichdi' to migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, senior leader Anil Desai has been named from Mumbai South Central, and MP Arvind Sawant has been fielded from the South Mumbai seat.
The party has fielded Sanjay Deshmukh from Yavatmal, Narendra Khedekar from Buldhana, Sanjog Waghere from Maval, Chandrahar Patil from Sangali, Nagesh Patil from Hingoli, Chandrakant Khere from Sambhajinagar and Omraj Nimbalkar from Dharshiv. Anant Geete will contest the Raigadh seat and Vinayak Raut will contest from Ratnagiri. Rajan Vichare is the candidate of the party from Thane, while Sanjay Jadhav is all set to fight Parbhani seat.
Elections 2024:
The elections for the 543 parliamentary constituencies will be held in seven phases, starting on April 19 and culminating on June 1. The phase 1 polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, third phase on May 7, fourth phase on May 13, 5th phase on May 20, 6th phase on May 25 and the last and the 7th phase on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Read here: Sanjay Nirupam lashes out at Uddhav over announcement of Mumbai North West seat
Meanwhile, the polls in Maharashtra would be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
(With inputs from ANI)
