Post-ouster, Sanjay Nirupam spews venom on Congress 'power-centres', says party doomed

Mumbai: Former MP Sanjay Nirupam who was expelled from the Congress on Wednesday, launched a scathing attack on the grand old party on Thursday, saying it was in the grip of multiple power-centres which are weakening and destroying the organisation.

In a stinging broadside starting with 'Jai Shri Ram', he alleged that earlier there was only one 'power-centre' in the Congress but now there are five independent power-centres led by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal, with their own independent caucuses of leaders.

"These leaders of power-centres are surrounded by people who have no connect with the grassroots workers, are extremely arrogant, they clash among each other though they have no political experience, they speak such things which I could not utter publicly," he alleged.

"The Congress is scattered, and its ideology is directionless, the party's own leaders are saying this… The Congress is becoming history, lacks any future… The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance here is also a merger of 'three sick units' and (Maharashtra President) Nana Patole is like a 'Vibhishan'. Nobody understands what language Venugopal speaks, whether Hindi, English or Malayalam," said Nirupam in his no-holds-barred attacks.

Reiterating that he will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North West constituency, Nirupam warned that those who are writing his political obits will get a nasty surprise on June 4 (vote-counting day of Lok Sabha polls).

Venting his frustration of many years, Nirupam said that his patience ran out after the recent developments, and if this continues "then a lot will be lost in the Congress party" as lakhs of people like him are suffering.

He said that there may not be an occasion for him to contest as an Independent, but would announce his next course of action in the coming days.

At one point, he mentioned that the prices of gold and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity are continuously rising in India.

Recounting the sequence of events leading to his unceremonious dumping, Nirupam claimed that he had submitted his resignation to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge around at 10.40 p.m. (Wednesday), and soon thereafter, he was expelled by the party for indiscipline and anti-party activities.

To prove his point, Nirupam posted the resignation letter of April 3 (yesterday) on social media on Thursday, with a sarcastic reference to Kharge.

"I have finally decided to fulfill your much awaited desire and hereby announce that I choose to resign from the primary membership of All India Congress Committee," Nirupam said.

"This communication may be considered as my resignation letter. Kindly acknowledge the same," said the letter which he sent on Wednesday evening.

Along with the letter, Nirupam took jibes at the Congress, saying: "Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness."

Upset at not being nominated for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat, the journalist-turned-politician had turned rebel and said he would contest the seat.

Nirupam expressed his ire publicly after the Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Shiv Sena (UBT) had declared the candidature of Amol G. Kirtikar for the seat last week. He had given a severe tongue-lashing to the SS (UBT) and the Congress seat-sharing negotiators.

Nirupam had also launched a vicious veiled attack -- without taking names -- at Kharge, Patole and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad, for allegedly falling at the knees of the SS (UBT).

Nirupam is a former two-time Rajya Sabha MP from (undivided) Shiv Sena and an ex-Mumbai North Lok Sabha MP of the Congress.

Sensing his banner of revolt, the state Congress also dropped him from the LS state list of the party's star campaigners on Wednesday.