The Congress party has expelled Sanjay Nirupam, its former Mumbai unit chief, for a period of six years following his recent ultimatum and statements deemed as anti-party. This decision comes after Nirupam issued a "one-week ultimatum" to the party concerning the Mumbai North-West seat.

In a letter issued by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, it was stated, "Taking note of the complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, the Congress president has approved the expulsion of Sanjay Nirupam from the party for a period of six years with immediate effect."

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Nirupam, however, said he was expelled after he had resigned. Responding to his expulsion, Nirupam took to social media and wrote: “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.” With this, he shared the picture of his resignation letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Quotes From Sanjay Nirupam's Press Conference:

59-year-old journalist-turned-politician Sanjay Nirupam addressed the media, launching a scathing attack on the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) coalition for nominating "Khichdi chor" Amol Kirtikar as the candidate from Mumbai's North-West constituency. Nirupam's remarks came during a media address where he expressed frustration with the party's leadership and announced his future plans.

“MVA made a khichadi chor our candidate. BJP was called the Bhrasht Janata party. What is your standing to call BJP, when you give a Khichadi chor a ticket? I had expected that my party would take note. I wrote my resignation to Kharge Ji at 10.43 PM,” he said.

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He called Congress directionless and  said that there is no organisational strength in the party. Expressing disappointment with Congress' leadership, Nirupam said, “All five– Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal– have their own lobbies and clash with each other,” he said.

“There is huge frustration amid party cadres. On the ideological front as well, Congress calls itself secular. Mahatma Gandhi believed in sarva dharma samabhav. All ideologies have a time limit. Nehruvian secularism which denies religion, has ended. The unfortunate thing is, that Congress isn’t willing to accept it,” he added.

When asked about his future plans, Nirupam announced his intention to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Mumbai North-West constituency.  “I will fight elections. I will fight from here. I will win from here. Those planning to write my obituary, I will disappoint them. I will decide future course of action after Navratri,” he added.

Background:

The contention arose after Nirupam, a former Member of Parliament representing Mumbai North, criticized the state leadership of Congress as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena declared its candidates for four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat.

Nirupam sought to contest from Mumbai North-West while the Shiv Sena (UBT), an ally of the Congress, announced Amol Kirtikar as their candidate for the seat.

The BJP-Shinde Sena alliance, on the other hand, is yet to reveal its candidate for the Mumbai North-West seat. Speculation mounts that Nirupam may join the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Nirupam had contested from Mumbai North-West in 2019 but was defeated by Gajanan Kirtikar of the Shinde Sena. He had initially been with the undivided Shiv Sena before joining the Congress in 2005.