Congress Coined 'Pappu' For Rahul Gandhi, Claims Miffed Sanjay Nirupam

Former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam on Monday claimed that it's the grand old party that coined name 'Pappu' for Rahul Gandhi. In an interview to India TV, the former MP made a huge allegation against top leadership of the party saying that it them who coined the term 'Pappu' for Gandhi and not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also slammed Congress veterans for not supporting Gandhi.

Earlier, Nirupam had alleged that those close to Rahul were being ignored in the party, as he expressed unhappiness over his voice not being heard in ticket distribution.

Nirupam, who is not happy with the ticket distribution for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, has already announced that he would not take part in the party's campaign after the name he had recommended was rejected.

The former MP also said the way the party's leadership was behaving with him the time to say good bye to the party was "not far away".

"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's my final decision," Nirupam said on Twitter without naming any of the city leaders.

Nirupam was replaced as the city Congress chief ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in March this year following complaints by a section of party leaders that he functioned in "unilateral" manner.

Former Union minister Milind Deora had replaced Nirupam. However, Deora had resigned from the post last month following the party's debacle in the general elections. The party could not win even a single seat out of the six in Mumbai. Former MP Eknath Gaikwad is the acting president of the city unit at present.