Lok Sabha elections 2024: In the wake of the Shiv Sena (UBT) announcing 17 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam today (March 30) said his party should not allow itself to be arm-twisted by the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit for the seats in Mumbai.
"When the Congress leadership proposed a friendly fight on some seats, the UBT group was upset. The international spokesperson of UBT has threatened Congress and said that there should be a friendly fight on all the Lok Sabha seats. What is the reason for this whining as UBT group will not be able to win even a single seat without the support of Congress. This is my open challenge," Nirupam posted on X.
"Anyway, there is tremendous resentment against the UBT Group in the Marathi-speaking community of Mumbai. I hope that in this environment the Congress leadership will not fall into the trap of the spokesperson. Otherwise, concrete arrangements have been made to oust Congress from Maharashtra," he added.
He claimed that the Sena (UBT) was not in a position to win any seat without Congress' support. Earlier this week, the Sena (UBT) brought out a list of 17 candidates, and said it would contest a total of 22 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra. These seats included four in Mumbai.
Eyes on Mumbai North-West seat
Nirupam himself is eyeing to contest the Mumbai North-West seat from where he lost in 2019, However, the Thackeray-led party's move triggered unease among the other two Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies - Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) - as the three parties are yet to finalise the seat-sharing deal for the Lok Sabha polls, which will be held in five phases in Maharashtra starting April 19.
Talking to media, Nirupam said, "The Congress should not come under the threat of Shiv Sena (UBT) as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is not capable of winning any seat without Congress support."
"Shiv Sena (UBT) arm-twisted the Congress to take five of the six seats in Mumbai. But the Congress should not allow itself to be arm-twisted like this. This action is against the Congress and it's a ploy to finish off the party in the city," the former Mumbai Congress chief alleged.
He said if the Congress is considering friendly fights in the disputed constituencies, he was ready for it. He was responding to Congress leader Naseem Khan's statement that the party's state unit has sent a proposal to its central leadership seeking permission to have friendly fights in the six seats in Mumbai.
"Congress should go for friendly fights in Sangli, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai South-Central and Bhiwandi," Nirupam said.
He reiterated his stand of giving a week's time to his party's leadership, following which he will take a decision on his future course of action (on contesting the Mumbai North-West seat). Earlier this week, Nirupam slammed his party leadership for allowing Sena (UBT) to grab most of the Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, and said "all options were open" before him.
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