The BJP has chosen public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, 71, as its candidate for the Mumbai North Central constituency. This decision was made on Saturday, just 48 hours after the Congress named Mumbai chief Varsha Gaikwad as its candidate for the same seat. Poonam Mahajan, who has represented the seat for two terms since 2014, will not be running this time.
Nikam is known for handling several high-profile cases, including the trial of terrorist Ajmal Kasab. The party faced internal debate regarding Mahajan’s candidacy and sought to balance the representation of Marathi candidates, as non-Marathi candidates Piyush Goyal and Mihir Kotecha were already selected for other Mumbai constituencies.
When Poonam Mahajan, daughter of the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, was initially chosen to run in 2014, it surprised many within the party. Nevertheless, buoyed by the Modi wave, she easily won her seat and became a prominent MP, known for her fluency in English and Hindi in the Lok Sabha and her leadership of the BJP’s National Youth Wing.
The Mumbai North Central constituency comprises six assembly segments: Vile Parle (BJP), Chandivali (Shiv Sena), Kurla (Shiv Sena), Kalina (Shiv Sena-UBT), Bandra East (Congress), and Bandra West (BJP). The constituency has a mixed population, including significant Christian and Muslim communities, which has historically posed challenges for the right-wing party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 4.86 lakh votes (53.97%) against the Congress’s 3.57 lakh votes (39.55%). Voting for the Mumbai North Central constituency will take place on May 20.
