"Party has no right to announce name from disputed seat": Sanjay Nirupam after Sena (UBT) declares candidate from Mumbai's North-West LS seat

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 10 (ANI): After the Shiv Sena (UBT) announced its candidate from Mumbai's North-West Lok Sabha seat, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Sunday said that no party in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has a right to announce the name of the contestants from the disputed seats before the conclusion of seat-sharing talks.
Sanjay Nirupam further urged the Shiv Sena (UBT) to withdraw the candidature announcement it had made earlier.
"Discussion regarding seat sharing is still underway in MVA. Even though a lot of meetings have been held, no final decision has been taken regarding various seats. Until and unless a final decision is taken, a party does not have a right to announce the name of the candidate from the disputed seat. As of now, there are 8 to 9 disputed seats. This is against coalition dharma," Nirupam told ANI.
Earlier Shiv Sena (UBT) announced the candidature of Amol Kirtikar from Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency.
Nirupam further questioned the candidature of Amol Kirtikar stating that there are allegations against him in Khichdi Scam.
"He is an accused in the Khichdi scam. The accusation is that he took a cheque of Rs 1.6 crores. ED is investigating it. Do they want the workers of Congress and Shiv Sena to campaign for such a candidate? I request Shiv Sena to take back the announcement they made yesterday," he added.
Sanjay Nirupam also called Uddhav's faction a "Bachi khuchi Shiv Sena".
The MVA, a coalition of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, is currently engaged in poll pact talks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
However, Shiv Sena (UBT) Spokesperson Anand Dubey has hit back at Nirupam saying that the latter should have informed his willingness to contest the seat to the Congress party instead of telling it on social media.
"Sanjay Nirupam lost the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, and 2019. He does not even hold a portfolio in his party. Maybe this is why he is not being invited to the INDIA alliance or MVA meetings. When we won the Mumbai North-West seat in 2019, it was our right to contest that seat again. If Sanjay Nirupam wants to contest elections again, he should tell this to the Congress party and not on social media platforms," Dubey said. (ANI)