The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced that former special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North Central constituency. He will be pitted against Congress’s Varsha Gaikwad. The decision comes as the BJP chose to drop sitting MP Poonam Mahajan.
Nikam, a recipient of the Padma Shri in 2016, has had a long and illustrious legal career. He has been associated with many high-profile cases, including the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attack. He also served as the special public prosecutor in the 2013 Mumbai gang rape case.
Following the execution of Ajmal Kasab, Nikam declared it a victory for India, stating that by hanging Kasab, India paid homage to all the policemen and innocent people who lost their lives in the terror attack.
In his first reaction to his candidature, Nikam expressed his gratitude to the BJP leadership, including PM Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar. He emphasized that the country’s Constitution, laws, and security would be his priorities.
The Mumbai North Central constituency, which Nikam has been chosen to contest from, has been represented by late Manohar Joshi, Ramdas Athawale, and Poonam Mahajan in the past.
The BJP’s decision to drop sitting MP Poonam Mahajan comes after several poll surveys showed a negative rating for her. The name of Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar was also being discussed, but he reportedly declined to contest. There were also reports of Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit being approached for the seat.
Mahajan, the daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, won the seat in 2014 and 2019, defeating Congress’s Priya Dutt. Voting in Mumbai is scheduled to be held on May 20 in the fifth phase of the polls.
Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the Lok Sabha, after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
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