Miffed with Congress ticket distribution, Sanjay Nirupam says he won't participate in poll campaign

Miffed by the party's decision of not giving the ticket to a candidate recommended by him, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday evening reiterated that he will not be a part of the election campaign for the upcoming Maharashtra State Assembly elections.

"There are 36 seats in Mumbai and I had asked all senior leaders for one seat in my Lok Sabha (LS) constituency, and that I will give them one capable MLA, someone who had worked hard in last LS polls," Nirupam told ANI.

The Congress leader said rejecting the candidate recommended by him meant that the party does not need my services.

"And today I got to know that they are rejecting the name I had recommended. That implies the party does not need my services, and if the party does not need my services then it's better that I withdraw from the election campaign," he said.

Earlier in the day, Nirupam had threatened to quit Congress.

"It seems Congress Party doesn't want my services anymore. I had recommended just one name in Mumbai for Assembly election. Heard that even that has been rejected. As I had told the leadership earlier, in that case I will not participate in poll campaign. It is my final decision," he wrote on Twitter.

In another tweet, Nirupam said, "I hope that the day has not yet come to say good bye to party. But the way leadership is behaving with me, it doesn't seem far away."

Maharashtra Assembly elections are slated to be held on October 21. The counting of votes will take place on October 24.