Ex-Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Friday urged people not to “waste your vote” by choosing his former party, and go with the ruling BJP and its allies instead, as Lok Sabha elections kicked off with polling in 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories.
Also Read: Congress expels former MP Sanjay Nirupam for ‘indiscipline’, ‘anti-party statements’
“I would like to urge the voters to vote for the BJP and its allies, and not waste it (the vote) by voting for the Congress. The Congress party is like a heritage building in Mumbai, which is no longer worth staying in. Old and tired leaders are trying to save that building, but they cannot change the country's situation,” Nirupam told ANI.
The remark by Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress earlier this month for “anti-party” statements, with him claiming in response that he had already “resigned,” comes days after he took a jibe at the grand old party's leadership, following his “expulsion.”
Also Read: Sanjay Nirupam slams Congress after being expelled, lauds PM Modi
{{/usCountry}}The remark by Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress earlier this month for “anti-party” statements, with him claiming in response that he had already “resigned,” comes days after he took a jibe at the grand old party's leadership, following his “expulsion.”
Also Read: Sanjay Nirupam slams Congress after being expelled, lauds PM Modi
{{/usCountry}}He had remarked at the time that there were “five power centres” in the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party: Kharge himself, former party chiefs Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and general secretaries KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Also Read: ‘Priyanka Gandhi trolling Gehlot’, says Sanjay Nirupam on ‘5 power centres’ in Congress
Nirupam, a former MP from Maharashtra's Mumbai North-West constituency, had been “upset” at not being considered as a candidate for the ongoing polls; the seat went to Congress ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
In Friday's first phase, five Maharashtra seats are also in the fray: Bhandara-Gondiya, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Nagpur, and Ramtek. The state sends 48 members to the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the highest after Uttar Pradesh (80).