For someone whose dawn in politics began with the blessings of late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, it will be a homecoming of sorts for expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who is widely expected to join Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s ruling Shiv Sena faction.
Hailing from Rohtas in the eastern Indian State of Bihar, journalism was Mr. Nirupam’s metier; he began his career as a journalist in 1986, and moved to Mumbai in 1988 where he worked with the Jansatta, the sister publication of the Indian Express.
An ardent film buff and admirer of iconic Bollywood star Dev Anand, Mr. Nirupam even penned the story for Dev Anand’s Return of Jewel Thief (1996) – the failed sequel to classic Jewel Thief (1967).
