Mumbai: A day after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announced his party candidate from Mumbai-North West Lok Sabha seat, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam asked if it was a violation of the ‘coalition dharma’ or an attempt to show his party in a poor light.
Even as seat-sharing talks are still going on between the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress, Thackeray on Saturday said Amol Kirtikar would be his party’s candidate from the Mumbai North-West seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Amol’s father and sitting MP from the seat Gajanan Kirtikar is affiliated with the rival Shiv Sena headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Nirupam, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from this seat, in a post on X said, “Chief of the leftover Shiv Sena announced his candidate as MVA nominee from Mumbai-North West. Despite having over two dozen meetings, the seat-sharing deal of MVA hasn’t been finalised yet. I am told that whatever 8 to 9 seats are pending, this constituency is one of them.”
कल शाम बची-खुची शिवसेना के प्रमुख ने अँधेरी में उत्तर पश्चिम लोकसभा क्षेत्र से #MVA का उम्मीदवार घोषित कर दिया।रात से ही फ़ोन आ रहे हैं।ऐसा कैसे हो सकता है?#MVA की दो दर्जन मीटिंग होने के बावजूद अभी तक सीट शेयरिंग पर अंतिम निर्णय नहीं हुआ है।
जो 8-9 सीटें पेंडिंग हैं,उनमें यह…— Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) March 10, 2024
He sought to know if the unilateral announcement was a violation of the “coalition dharma” or if it was deliberately done to show Congress in a poor light.
The Congress leadership should intervene in the matter, he said.
“The candidate announced yesterday is an accused in the khichdi scam. He took bribe by way of cheque from a supplier,” Nirupam alleged.
“What is khichdi scam? During the COVID-19 pandemic, BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) provided free food to labourers in transit and the candidate took commission in the scheme meant to provide relief to poor people. The ED is probing the case,” Nirupam claimed in his post.
In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress lost all six seats in Mumbai.
In 2019, the then-undivided Shiv Sena contested three seats in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won all of them.
PTI