Dutt loyalists rally against Nirupam

Barely two days after entering the Congress fold, Sanjay Nirupam has begun to feel the heat. Party workers from the Mumbai North-West consti...

Barely two days after entering the Congress fold, Sanjay Nirupam has begun to feel the heat. Party workers from the Mumbai North-West constituency, which has elected filmstar-turned-MP Sunil Dutt for the last four terms, have now openly launched an anti-Nirupam drive.

Nirupam, a former Shiv Sena RS MP, was pitted against Dutt in the last Parliamentary elections. It was a hard-fought contest: Dutt had even filed a defamation case against Nirupam for certain remarks made during the campaign.

And now, Dutt loyalist, Kamruddin Merchant, who’s also president of the North-West Mumbai Congress Committee, is leading the charge against the former Sena firebrand.

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Nirupam’s entry into the Congress is seen to alter equations in the Mumbai unit, as he is regarded to be close to MP Gurudas Kamat. His presence as a leader of north Indians may act as a counterweight to the likes of Dutt and Kripa Shankar Singh.

Merchant today said the Committee was expected to pass a resolution asking the party high command to reconsider Nirupam’s entry.