Mumbai North leaders are answerable: Deora after Urmila's exit

Hours within actor-turned- politican Urmila Matondkar announcing that she was quitting the Congress due to infighting within the city unit, party leader Milind Deora took potshots at his rival Sanjay Nirupam.

Mumbai North leaders must be held accountable, the former MP said.

"After Urmila decided to fight the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North, I supported her campaign wholeheartedly as (then) Mumbai Congress president," Deora tweeted.

"I stood by her when she was let down by those who brought her into the party. I fully agree that Mumbai North leaders must be held accountable," he added.

While Deora did not name anyone, Nirupam had won from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat in 2009, losing to BJP's Gopal Shetty by a massive margin in 2014.

Sandesh Kondvilkar and Bhushan Patil, whom Matondkar had blamed for 'sabotaging' her campaign, were trusted aides of Nirupam.

In 2019, Nirupam switched the constituencies and stood from Mumbai North-West, while Matondkar, who joined the party on the eve of Lok Sabha polls, was fielded from Mumbai North.

The Congress lost all seats in Mumbai in 2019.

Nirupam, former city Congress president, also took to Twitter to react to Matondkar's resignation.

Saying that infighting happens in every organisation, he added "we must fight against this instead of giving up".

"I had cautioned Urmila Matondkar long ago and told her not to get into this and have patience," Nirupam tweeted.

Describing her resignation as unfortunate, he requested her to reconsider the decision.