Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam joins Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena along with his wife and daughter

(With inputs from agencies)

NEW DELHI: Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam along with his wife and daughter on Friday joined Shiv Sena , in the presence of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde .Earlier in the day, Nirupam confirmed his decision to join Shiv Sena saying, "I have taken a decision to join Shiv Sena today. After 20 years, joining Shiv Sena is like a 'ghar wapasi' . I will join the party in the presence of the CM (Eknath Shinde)...You know what is the condition in Congress today."Sanjay Nirupam's relationship with the party soured after Congress, under the seat-sharing agreement, decided to let go of Mumbai North West for Amot Kirtikar, a candidate from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which is part of the INDIA bloc.Nirupam, who had represented Mumbai North in the Lok Sabha in 2009, said that the Shiv Sena's decision to field candidates in Mumbai was intended to marginalize the Congress.Congress had also revoked Nirupam's name from the star campaigners list for the Lok Sabha national elections."I have finally decided to fulfill your much-awaited desire and hereby announce that I choose to resign from the primary membership of All India Congress Committee. This communication may be considered as my resignation letter. Kindly acknowledge the same," the leader wrote in his resignation.Reacting to the party's expulsion letter, the ex-Congress leader took a dig at the party's "promptness," claiming that he was suspended soon after he resigned.The former MP from Mumbai North shared a screenshot of his letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on X and said, "Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness. Just sharing this information."