Expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday made a big prediction about the Congress vis-a-vis the grand old party's performance in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Nirupam said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the Congress party will be out at zero in the general elections as the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray has given the seats to the party like alms.
Sanjay Raut said in the press conference on Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) seat-sharing arrangement that the Congress will contest only 2 out of 6 Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai-- Mumbai North and Mumbai North Central whereas Shiv Sena (UBT) will contesting on rest of the four seats including Mumbai South Central.
In his post, Nirupam also claimed that many Congress leaders have went incommunicado due to their imminent failure in the upcoming elections. He further claimed that they will be hiding their faces after June 4 and large scale foreign tours may also be planned.
Sanjay Nirupam's full post on X
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had won two seats in Maharashtra. Congress won one seat in 2019. This time, Shiv Sena (UBT) has given the seats to Congress like alms. According to that, Congress will be zero in 2024. That is why many leaders have become unreachable by switching off their mobiles. After June 4, all of them will be hiding their faces. Large scale foreign tours may also be planned.
Nirupam's issues with Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT) seat sharing
Last week, Nirupam was expelled from the Congress for a period of six years after he questioned the top leadership over seat-sharing talks with Shiv Sena (UBT). He attacked the state Congress leadership after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party declared its candidates for 4 out of 6 Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat, which he was eyeing. "Accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT's) decision to unilaterally field its candidates in Mumbai amounted to allowing the destruction of Congress," he said.
Local Congress leaders unhappy with seat distribution
While the Central leadership of the Congress has accepted the seat-sharing deal for Maharashtra, Mumbai Congress leaders are dissatisfied with the seat distribution and will hold a meeting in the afternoon.
The top points to be discussed in the meeting are Lok Sabha elections, seat distribution and campaign for Mumbai, India Today reported citing sources. In this meeting, the Mumbai Congress will also decide the further course of action after losing the Mumbai South Central seat to Shiv Sena (UBT).
Sources further said that Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad, who was eyeing the Mumbai South Central seat, is upset with the state party chief Nana Patole for failing to negotiate the Mumbai seats well with the MVA. Besides this, the grand old party's leadership in Sangli and Bhiwandi is also unhappy with the final seat distribution as Sangli was retained by Shiv Sena (UBT) and Bhiwandi by NCP (Sharad Pawar).