Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sprung a surprise on Saturday by naming former special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam as its candidate from Mumbai North Central constituency for the Lok Sabha elections.
Nikam was chosen ahead of sitting MP Poonam Mahajan, the daughter of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.
The Padma Shri awardee’s principal rival will be Congress’ Varsha Gaikwad.
In a long and illustrious career, Nikam worked in several prominent cases such as the 1993 Bombay bombings, Gulshan Kumar murder case, Pramod Mahajan murder case and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Mumbai Central will be among 13 constituencies in Maharashtra that will go to polls in the fifth phase, on May 20.
Poonam Mahajan won the seat in 2014 and 2019, defeating Congress’ Priya Dutt – daughter of late Nargis and Sunil Dutt.
