Mumbai: Mumbai Congress’ various factions are bickering, sources say. Leaders from the late Gurudas Kamat’s group have joined hands with Milind Deora against Sanjay Nirupam. The party leadership has taken cognisance of complaints against Mr Nirupam. In this backdrop, Mr Nirupam met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over issues related to the north Indian OBC community staying in Maharashtra. And now there is buzz that Mr Nirupam is joining the BJP.
On Sunday, Mumbai Congress leaders including Bhai Jagtap, Eknath Gaikwad and others met Maharashtra Congress in-charge Mallik-arjun Kharge and demanded that Mr Nirupam be removed from the post of Mumbai Congress chief. They said that Mr Nirupam’s working style was not in line with the Congress, which is why the party organisation at the ground level had been disturbed. On the other hand, Mr Nirupam’s supporters, too, met Mr Kharge and supported him staunchly.
After the untimely demise of former MP, Mr Kamat, his supporters seem to be getting closer to Milind Deora.
At one time, Milind Deora’s father Murli Deora and Mr Kamat were strongly opposed to each other. However, now Mr Kamat’s group has aligned itself with Milind Deora.
In the midst of all this, Mr Nirupam met Mr Fadnavis over the issues faced by north Indians staying in Mumbai. He met Mr Fadnavis at the latter's official residence, Varsha, which kicked off buzz that Mr Nirupam was disturbed by the complaints and thinking of joining the BJP. Later, his office denied all such claims and said that the meeting was purely non-political.
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been reportedly informed about these developments. Although his reactions remain unknown, there is a clear signal for Mumbai Congress leaders that the top brass will soon take a decision on the matter.
A source from the party said that the anti-Nirupam leaders told Mr Kharge that the distribution of tickets for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls (held in February 2017) was “improper” and favoured a particular group within the party, leading to its poor show. However, the for-Nirupam group told Mr Kharge that effecting a change of guard at a time when the polls were nearing would have a “debilitating effect” on the party’s poll prospects.
