"Such Promptness": Sanjay Nirupam Says He Quit Before Congress Sacked Him

Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress yesterday, has claimed that the party had issued the letter of expulsion immediately after he sent across his resignation last night. In a post on X, the former MP has shared his resignation letter, dated April 3. "Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see the such promptness. Just sharing this info. I will give detail statement today between 11.30 to 12 PM," he said in the post.

Mr Nirupam was expelled by the Congress yesterday for six years on grounds of indiscipline and anti-party statements.

The action followed the Mumbai leader's scathing remarks against Congress's INDIA ally, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) over seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha election.

"Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) has approved the expulsion of Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect," an official communication from the party said.

The Maharashtra unit of the Congress had pushed for action against Mr Nirupam yesterday. He was also dropped from the party's list of star campaigners for the upcoming polls.

Mr Nirupam wanted to contest the polls from the Mumbai North-West seat, where he lost to Shiv Sena's Gajanan Kirtikar last time. But the Uddhav Thackeray-led party announced Amol Kirtikar - Gajanan Kirtikar's son - as its candidate. Thereafter, Mr Nirupam had said the state Congress leadership must not get arm-twisted by Mr Thackeray's party and he said the Sena faction cannot win any seat without Congress's support. In a personal attack on Mr Thackeray, he said described him as the chief of "Bachi Khuchi Shiv Sena".

He had also accused its candidate, Amol Kirtikar, of involvement in irregularities in a free food scheme during Covid, popularly known as Khichdi Scam.

Sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who sided with the Eknath Shinde camp when the Shiv Sena split, has withdrawn from the contest after the Uddhav Thackeray faction propped up his son as its candidate.

The BJP, it is learnt, wants to field its candidate in Mumbai North-West as part of its seat-sharing understanding with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Mr Nirupam, who switched to the Shiv Sena to Congress in 2005, had earlier said that "all options are open" for him.

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said people like Mr Nirupam are "always welcome" if his thoughts align with the BJP. "Seeing the political tenure of Sanjay Nirupam, he has done a lot of work for connecting people with Congress. He is well-recognised in North India. Talks with Sanjay Nirupam have not happened yet, but if he is ready and his thoughts align with the BJP, then people like him are always welcome," he said.

The Eknath Shinde-led Sena has also sent out feelers. "If he wants to join us, we welcome him. However, the final decision in this regard lies with Eknath Shinde," MLA Sanjay Shirsat has said.