Expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam set to join Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena

Sanjay Nirupam. File Pic

Expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam is all set to join Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, reported the PTI.

Sanjay Nirupam is set to join his 'alma mater' Shiv Sena, now headed by Eknath Shinde, nearly two decades after he quit the undivided party which was his political launchpad in Mumbai.

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Sanjay Nirupam had joined Congress in 2005 and was appointed as general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. He won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat in the 2009 elections, defeating BJP veteran Ram Naik by a narrow margin in a keenly fought contest.

Nirupam held various positions in the Congress in the last 19 years and had also headed the city unit, before falling out of grace of the party leadership.

According to the PTI, the Congress expelled Sanjay Nirupam last month for six years for "indiscipline and anti-party statements", days after he gave a 'one-week ultimatum' to the party over the Mumbai North-West seat, which he was eyeing.

"Sanjay Nirupam will soon join the Shiv Sena," Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters on Wednesday after chairing a meeting of Shiv Sena office-bearers, as per the PTI.

Sanjay Nirupam was also present during the meeting, which CM Eknath Shinde described as a courtesy visit.

Meanwhile, CM Shinde said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold two rallies in Mumbai, which goes to polls on May 20.

Maharashtra CM Shinde expressed confidence that the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising Shiv Sena headed by him, BJP, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will win all six seats in Mumbai in Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The meeting was held with office-bearers of Mumbai South, Mumbai North West and Mumbai South Central constituencies where Shiv Sena nominees Yamini Jadhav, Ravindra Waikar, and Rahul Shewale are in the fray.

Sanjay Nirupam's exit from Congress was the fallout of unfulfilled personal ambitions. It is said that he wanted to contest the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency on the Congress ticket in the ongoing elections, but the seat fell into the kitty of Shiv Sena (UBT) as part of a seat-sharing agreement among MVA allies.

Sanjay Nirupam, originally from Bihar, entered politics through journalism in the 1990s.

Nirupam became the editor of Mumbai-based 'Dophar Ka Saamana, the Hindi mouthpiece of undivided Shiv Sena.

Impressed by his work, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray sent him to Rajya Sabha in 1996.

Sanjay Nirupam emerged as the firebrand face of the Shiv Sena when it was trying to reach out to Mumbai's North Indian voters. However, he suffered a setback when he was asked to step down as a Rajya Sabha member in 2005.

Differences cropped up later, culminating in Sanjay Nirupam's exit from the Shiv Sena in 2005 and subsequent joining of Congress.

He won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency in 2009 as a Congress candidate. However, in 2014, he faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Gopal Shetty of BJP from the same constituency.

(with PTI inputs)