On Saturday (9th March), Uddhav Thackeray announced Amol Kirtikar as the Shiv Sena UBT‘s nominee for the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency, despite ongoing discussions within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regarding seat allocations. Uddhav Thackeray announced this during his address to party members in the constituency, despite ongoing inconclusive discussions among the MVA allies regarding seat-sharing.
This decision from Uddhav Thackeray angered his alliance partner Congress. The Congress party leader Sanjay Nirupam took to social media platform X to mock Uddhav Thackeray over this. He called Uddhav Thackeray the chief of ‘bachi khuchi’ Shiv Sena.
The candidate announced by Uddhav Thackeray, Amol Kirtikar, his father, Gajanan Kirtikar, currently holds the seat as a Member of Parliament and is associated with the rival faction of Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam has expressed interest in contesting for the seat many times during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, Thackeray’s premature announcement escalated tensions within the state alliance partners, who are also part of the national-level opposition alliance known as the ‘I.N.D.I. Alliance’.
Sanjay Nirupam said in his X post, “Yesterday evening, the chief of the remaining Shiv Sena declared the Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate from North West Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency in Andheri. Receiving calls since night. How can this happen? Despite two dozen meetings of MVA, the final decision on seat sharing has not been taken yet. This seat is also among the 8-9 seats which are pending, this is what the Congress colleagues who are participating in the seat-sharing meetings have told me.”
Nirupam added, “Then isn’t announcing the candidate from Shiv Sena a violation of alliance dharma? Or is such an act being done deliberately to humiliate Congress? The top leadership of Congress should intervene.”
Sanjay Nirupam further said, “Who is the candidate whose name has been proposed by Shiv Sena? He is a scammer of the Khichdi scam. He has taken a bribe in check from the Khichdi supplier. What is a Khichdi Scam? During the COVID era, there was a commendable program of providing free food to forced migrant labourers by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Shiv Sena’s proposed candidate has taken commission from the scheme of feeding the poor.”
Sanjay Nirupam also wrote in his post, “ED is investigating this matter. Will Congress and Shiv Sena workers campaign for such a scam candidate? This is my humble question to the leadership of both parties.”