Sanjay Nirupam, a prominent Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP, launched a scathing attack on INC’s alliance partner in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT), for unilaterally declaring candidates for the four Mumbai Lok Sabha seats ahead of the upcoming elections.

Nirupam accused Shiv Sena of deliberately fielding a candidate who is allegedly involved in corruption, describing the move as a violation of alliance principles.

Expressing his displeasure over the candidate selection, Nirupam specifically targeted the nomination of Amol Kirtikar for the Mumbai North-West seat, which Nirupam claimed he was contesting strongly.

He alleged that Kirtikar had been implicated in a corruption scandal related to the COVID-19 relief distribution, currently under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"The candidate that Shiv Sena has fielded from northwest Mumbai - where I was presenting a strong candidature - took bribes from the contractor in COVID Khichdi scam. ED is probing it...Shiv Sena is deliberately fielding such a 'Khichdi chor'. This has hurt Congress cadres. I am upset too. I am sad that our negotiators didn't present Congress party's stand strongly...Shiv Sena (UBT) has attempted to suppress Congress," news agency ANI quoted Nirupam as saying.

Nirupam also criticised the Mumbai Congress leadership for not asserting the party's stance strongly during negotiations with Shiv Sena. He urged the Congress high command to reconsider its alliance with Shiv Sena, citing attempts by Shiv Sena to suppress Congress in Mumbai. 

"The arbitrary manner in which Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced candidates on 4 out of the 6 Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai has upset the Congress cadre. Mumbai Congress leadership is very upset. Voters of Congress will also be upset due to the same. I would like to demand from our top leadership that they should take a stand against this decision of the Shiv Sena," he further stated.

Calling for two possible options, Nirupam proposed either ending the alliance or contesting the disputed seats independently in a friendly manner. He urged Congress to field candidates in constituencies where differences persist and no resolution has been reached between the parties.

Nirupam's remarks followed Shiv Sena (UBT)'s release of its initial candidate list, which included Amol Kirtikar for Mumbai North-West, Anil Desai for Mumbai South Central, and Arvind Sawant for South Mumbai. The party announced its intention to contest 22 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra independently as part of the opposition MVA alliance.

Other candidates revealed by Shiv Sena include Sanjay Deshmukh, Narendra Khedekar, Sanjog Waghere, Chandrahar Patil, Nagesh Patil, Chandrakant Khere, Omraj Nimbalkar, Anant Geete, Vinayak Raut, Rajan Vichare, and Sanjay Jadhav for various constituencies across Maharashtra.