Yesterday, Congress party appointed former Union Minister Milind Deora as Mumbai Regional Congress Committee Chief, replacing Sanjay Nirupam. According to a Times of India report, Nirupam had been at loggerheads with various senior leaders of the state.
Sanjay Nirupam, on being given ticket from Mumbai North-West & Milind Deora being appointed Mumbai Congress chief: I was doubtful if I would've been able to do justice, had I worked while also being Mumbai Congress chief. Congress Pres took intelligent decision & I welcome it. pic.twitter.com/uFJ42SrviB
— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2019
The Congress party (unlike their nature) gave him some consolation by fielding him from Mumbai North-West constituency. However, what can be termed shocking and the height of sycophancy, Nirupam termed the move as an “intelligent decision”. When asked about the Congress President’s decision, he said, “I was doubtful if I would’ve been able to do justice, had I worked while also being Mumbai Congress chief. Congress Pres took intelligent decision & I welcome it”.
It seems that Sanjay Nirupam has been dropped down less for his politics and more for his crude and crass behavior. Sanjay Nirupam is infamous for his cheap and derogatory remarks against the political opponents of the Congress party. Basically, he is a small-time Congress leader who has risen up the ranks by making controversial and malicious statements. Rumor mongering and crass comments are his forte and he makes good use of them to stay in the headlines whenever needed. This shows the culture of the Congress and what kind of leaders they nurture and promote. In September last year, Nirupam made a nasty statement against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him an “unpadh-gawaar” (illiterate).
The remark against PM Modi fits the pattern of behavior of Sanjay Nirupam. Prior to this, he has made many disrespectful remarks against the respected people. After the Karnataka assembly election results, he had equated Governor of Karnataka to a dog. Such comparison raises a serious question about his upbringing. Sanjay Nirupam is a habitual offender. In 2012, Sanjay Nirupam has used foul language against Smriti Irani– a self-made woman who rose to the top in not one but two walks of life. He had passed vituperative remarks against Smriti Irani during a debate on a news channel. He said, “You used to charge money to perform dance shows on television, and now you have become an election analyst.” Following his disrespectful remarks against her, she filed a defamation case against Sanjay Nirupam. Smriti Irani further alleged that Nirupam again did mud-slinging against her in the court by saying “iss aurat ko Supreme Court jaane ka shauk hai” (this lady is fond of going to Supreme Court). Smriti Irani has always been the target of misogynistic culture of Congress.
Keeping aside the ‘good deeds’ of Sanjay Nirupam, there is another factor for dropping him down; Sanjay is ethnically from Bihar and the affection of Mumbaikars for people of UP and Bihar is well known. Congress party pushed a soft regional agenda here.
Not to forget that Sanjay Nirupam lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a record margin of 4.5 lakh votes which showed the distrust people from his constituency had for him after his 5 year stint as an MP. Sanjay has worked in the media for a significant amount of time and he uses the skills picked up there to maximum effect in order to sensationalize issues so as to stay relevant in politics. More than Sanjay Nirupam, crass and moronic statements like the ones he repeatedly makes are a reflection of his party’s mentality and DNA.