New Delhi sources stated that “Congress president Rahul Gandhi appointed Milind Deora as the new president of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee”. Meanwhile “The party appreciates the contribution of outgoing president Sanjay Nirupam.” Earlier Nirupam was appointed the party’s candidate for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency earlier in the day, though several leaders wanted him to contest from the Mumbai North constituency, from which he was elected in 2009.
Reportedly Nirupam, a former Shiv Sena member, had lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gopal Shetty in 2014. Furthermore there have been many complaints about Nirupam’s functioning in the past few months. An unidentified party member said “There were complaints made about Nirupam’s style of functioning before Congress president Rahul Gandhi and also general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge”.
Moreover Nirupam attempted to reach out to those opposed to him within the local ranks by invoking the legacies of former Union ministers Sunil Dutt and Gurudas Kamat, both of whom had been his sworn political rivals during their lifetime. Apparently he also announced a plan to release an independent manifesto for his constituency.
