Why is There Disquiet in Mumbai Congress Over Sanjay Nirupam?
In six months, six delegations from Mumbai Congress who are upset with Nirupam have gone to the national leadership.
advertisement
Just ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Mumbai Congress is seen getting trapped in a new problem. While the Grand Old Party is trying hard to unite on the national level, it however is struggling to keep the Mumbai unit from infighting.
Within the Congress questions are now being raised on Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam. What earlier felt like whispers about Nirupam’s weak leadership has now become a loud noise as the situation has escalated.
Senior leaders of Mumbai Congress have shown discontentment over Nirupam’s way of leading the party. Recently Milind Deora, who is very close to Rahul Gandhi, said that he is unhappy with the work done by Nirupam in Mumbai Congress.
Deora claims that the way Sanjay Nirupam has handled the party in the last four years is something that had never been seen in Mumbai before, and this may turn out to be a huge disadvantage for the Congress ahead of elections.
Sanjay Nirurpam’s clout can be understood through the fact that in the last six months, six different delegations from Mumbai Congress who are upset with Nirupam have gone to the Congress’ national leadership. They have made several complaints against him. However those who oppose Nirupam’s conduct have had no success against him.
The reason is that in the last four years, Nirupam has constantly fought for the Congress. As Mumbai Congress president he has cornered Maharashtra’s BJP government and campaigned against Modi government’s policies. In the Maharashtra Assembly, even leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil does not appear to be aggressive with CM Fadnavis no matter what. But Nirupam does not miss a chance to question the BJP on various grounds.
Nirupam has fought for the party, trading barbs on every level. For instance, shortly after Nirupam accused Fadnavis in the Cidco scam in Navi Mumbai, Fadnavis had to give orders for investigation. In another instance, he played a significant role in informing people in Mumbai about the Rafale deal when in Delhi Rahul Gandhi tried to corner Modi government and Anil Ambani.
When the Opposition attacked Modi government over rise in petrol and diesel prices and declared Bharat Bandh in Mumbai, it was made successful because of Nirupam.
It has been said that the reason why the Mumbai Congress is against Nirupam is the failure of the Congress in the BMC elections. He is alleged to have aggressively distributed tickets to a lot of his close people at that time.
That is also the reason why in all the Congress’ campaigns against the BJP, no big face of Mumbai Congress came forward to support Nirupam in the last four years. Whether it is Milind Deora, Kripashankar Singh or Priya Dutt.
If the Congress party does not soon resolve the internal issue, they will have no option but to bear the consequences in the Lok Sabha elections.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)