Vying for a seat from Mumbai, Sanjay Nirupam meets BJP leader Ashok Chavan

Mumbai: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam called on newly-elected BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in Mumbai, days after the latter switched sides.

Nirupam, a former MP from Mumbai who is seeking a Congress ticket for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, called on Chavan at his residence in south Mumbai on Tuesday night, and said there was no political angle to the meeting though they discussed general politics.

Chavan quit the Congress and joined the BJP late last month and was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Nirupam recently criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, a Congress ally, after the latter declared Amol Kirtikar as his party's candidate for the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha seat.

Nirupam, who is vying for the seat which he lost in 2019, was critical of Thackeray for unilaterally announcing Kirtikar's candidature when seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha polls between Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were yet to conclude.

The MVA consists of the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Talking to PTI on Wednesday, Nirupam said he met former party colleague Chavan as he is his friend.

"I had gone townside (south Mumbai) for some work and called up Chavan since he is my friend (and later met him). I can't stop meeting him just because he is in another party (BJP) now," Nirupam maintained.

"We chatted over a cup of tea and definitely discussed politics," the Congress leader said.