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Rahul Gandhi may intervene to stem infighting in Mumbai Congress
The Mumbai Congress is a divided house with several party leaders not getting along with city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam, people familiar with the matter said, on condition of anonymity.
With the feud in Mumbai Congress out in the open ahead of general elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to intervene and solve the issues during a meet of all state chiefs in New Delhi on Saturday. A group of disgruntled leaders from the city also met senior party leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, former union minister and former south Mumbai MP Milind Deora had expressed disappointment over the infighting in the city unit, saying he was unsure if he would contest the Lok Sabha elections. He urged the party high command to intervene for better prospects of the party in the polls.
“A delegation comprising former Mumbai Congress president Kripashankar Singh, former minister Arif Naseem Khan and others met All India Congress Committee general secretary and state in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday. He has been apprised about the infighting. We have requested him to urge Rahul Gandhi to intervene,” a leader said. “State unit heads from all the states will meet Rahulji on Saturday. Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam too will attend the meet. The party president is likely to discuss the issues with Nirupam and state chief Ashok Chavan.”
The Mumbai Congress is a divided house with several party leaders not getting along with Nirupam, people familiar with the matter said, on condition of anonymity.
In the past too, former Union minister Gurudas Kamat had openly criticised Nirupam ahead of the civic polls in 2017. Before his death last year, Kamat had raised the flag of revolt against Nirupam’s leadership and quit the party in protest.
After his death, some of his associates met party chief Gandhi in October last year and demanded Nirupam be replaced with Deora.
Nirupam refused to comment on the issue and said he won’t discuss party’s internal issues on public forum.
