Kamat faction stages protests against city Congress chief

27 corporators threaten to quit the party if Kamat does not withdraw his resignation

Mumbai: Scores of supporters of senior leader Gurudas Kamat staged a protest outside the Mumbai Congress office in south Mumbai on Wednesday and raised slogans against the party’s city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam.

Supporters of Gurudas Kamat outside the Congress party office in the city. (Bhushan Koyande)

Turf war within Congress may have forced out Gurudas Kamat

Kamat, meanwhile, was in New Delhi amid talk that the Congress leadership would reach out to him for discussions on his decision to quit the party and politics.

The protestors included former legislators and several corporators, 27 of whom have reportedly threatened to quit the party if the Kamat did not withdraw his resignation. Speaking at the venue, some Congress leaders vent their ire on Nirupam.

Former legislator Ashok Jadhav accused Nirupam of running the party Shiv Sena style.

Former leader of the opposition in the BMC Devendra Amberkar said Nirupam’s style was autocratic and would cost the party in the ensuing civic elections.

The issue has divided the party in Mumbai. Leaders from other factions such as former MLA Krishna Hegde have also expressed unhappiness over Nirupam’s recent appointment of block level presidents. Hegde warned that such changes without taking other leaders into confidence would affect the party’s performance in the civic elections.Nirupam , meanwhile, said, a decision on Kamat’s resignation would be taken by the party leadership in Delhi and he had nothing to say about the protest against him.

State Congress chief Ashok Chavan said: “I believe Kamat is in Delhi and the central leadership will likely discuss the issues with him. We tried to contact Kamat, but he was unavailable.”

Late in the day, Kamat released an appeal asking his supporters not to hold any morchas and also appealed to the corporators not to resign. The main reason Kamat, 61, quit is apparently his turf war with Nirupam for control of the Mumbai Congress.

Nirupam’s predecessors such as the late Murli Deora and Kripashankar Singh have also had their battles with the Kamat faction.

Kamat is also unhappy that his name was not considered for nomination to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, which went to P Chidambaram.