KHARGE ASKED TO INTERVENE, RESOLVE CITY CONG UNIT FEUD

MUMBAI: Taking cognisance of issues in the party’s Mumbai unit, Congress leadership has asked party in-charge of Maharashtra, Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss and resolve the issues with party leaders in the city.

Several leaders in Mumbai Congress are unhappy with city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam and have objected to his style of functioning. Last week, former Union minister and former south Mumbai MP Milind Deora had said that he was not keen on contesting the coming Lok Sabha polls due to infighting in the city Congress. Earlier, senior party leaders Kripashankar Singh and Naseem Khan had demanded that Nirupam be replaced with Deora.

A senior party leader said Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked Kharge to discuss the problem with senior leaders and find a solution.

The infighting within Mumbai Congress came to the fore last week when Deora said that there was a problem in the Mumbai unit of the party and the central leadership needs to intervene. In a series of tweets posted on Twitter, he said he may not want to contest the Lok Sabha elections in such a scenario.

Mumbai Congress has been witnessing a bitter tussle between Nirupam and other senior leaders.

The latest fight is over the distribution of tickets for Lok Sabha polls and campaign plans. Nirupam wants to contest from Mumbai north-west constituency which is also being eyed by some other leaders.