Allying with Sena is like burying Cong: Sanjay Nirupam

Hours before Uddhav Thackeray meets his legislators, the anti-Shiv Sena sentiments within the Congress grew wider with veteran Sanjay Nirupam speaking out again.

Nirupam, a three-time MP, who had been with Shiv Sena earlier, said that alliance for the Congress with the right-wing saffron party would be disastrous.

"Years ago, the Congress allied with (Mayawati-led) BSP in Uttar Pradesh. They (Congress) party got a beating and it has not been able to stand again (in UP)," Nirupam, a former Mumbai Congress president said.

According to him, the party is making the same mistake in Maharashtra. "Becoming the No.3 party in a Shiv Sena-led government is like buying the Congress (in Maharashtra)," he said.

Nirupam said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should not come under pressure for an alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.