Sanjay Nirupam
Season Journey CompleteSanjay Nirupam
Bio
Sanjay Nirupam is an Indian politician and journalist born on 6 February 1965 in the remote village of Rohtas, Bihar. He completed his schooling in Bihar and moved to Patna in 1980 for higher education, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Political Science from A.N. College, Patna, Magadh University (1984). He has been politically active since his student years. He began his journalism career in 1986 as a Sub-Editor at Panch Janya. He subsequently worked at Jan Satta and rose to become Executive Editor of Dopahar Ka Saamana. In 1993, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray appointed him Chief Editor of Saamana — the party's flagship Hindi-language mouthpiece — a position that gave him extraordinary political exposure. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Shiv Sena member in 1996 and re-elected in 2002. In 2005, following a prolonged personal rivalry with BJP leader Pramod Mahajan (whom he accused of corruption), he resigned from Shiv Sena and joined the Indian National Congress. He subsequently served as General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (2015–2019), and was elected Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North (2009–2014). He lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election and was expelled from Congress in April 2024 for anti-party activities, rejoining the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) in May 2024. In August 2008, he became the first active politician ever to enter Bigg Boss, participating in Season 2. He stated he wanted to experience 24×7 surveillance. He was the first contestant to be eliminated, evicted in Week 1 (Day 6), finishing fourteenth and last.
His career as a two-term Rajya Sabha MP — first for the Shiv Sena (1996–2005) and then for the Indian National Congress (2005–2009); his election as Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North (2009–2014); serving as Chief Editor of Saamana (the Shiv Sena's Hindi mouthpiece, under Bal Thackeray) and Executive Editor of Dopahar Ka Saamana; being the first active politician in Indian history to enter Bigg Boss as a contestant (Season 2, 2008); finishing fourteenth (first eliminated) in Bigg Boss Season 2.