Lok Sabha Polls: BJP Replaces Poonam Mahajan With 26/11 Attacks Lawyer Ujjwal Nikam in Mumbai North Central

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped Poonam Mahajan as its candidate from Maharashtra’s Mumbai North Central and replaced her with senior lawyer Ujjwal Deorao Nikam.

Nikam, a senior public prosecutor, has appeared for the government in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. In his long and illustrious legal career, the Padmashree awardee was also associated with cases, including the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, and the murder case of Poonam’s father and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

He will face Congress’s city unit chief and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad, both Maharashtrian faces.

Talking about his candidature, Nikam said, “I don’t consider politics a fight. Social service can be done through politics. Service to the nation can also be done through politics. I will adopt this new funda. I have received the opportunity to serve the nation, through politics. So, I consider myself fortunate…”

Speculations were rife that the BJP was likely to field a new face from the Mumbai North Central seat amid anti-incumbency.

Reacting to the development, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, “It’s a proud moment for all of us that Ujjwal Nikam will raise the voice of his fight against terrorism, in the Parliament now and will work with us towards PM Modi’s vision of eliminating terrorism from its roots. Poonam Mahajan is our sister. Whatever party decides for us and gives the role, we do that with utmost honesty.”

Mumbai North Central constituency goes to polls on May 20.

Though indications had been there for some time that Mahajan would be dropped, it was the party’s search for her replacement that took time, BJP sources said.

Party leaders have claimed that the decision to drop Mahajan was based on organisational feedback. The former president of the BJP’s youth wing, Mahajan had won the seat for the party in 2014 and 2019, defeating Congress’s Priya Dutt.

In her first reaction after BJP’s list came out, Mahajan thanked the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing her to serve Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha Constituency as an MP for 10 years.

“I will always be indebted to the family-like people of the area for loving me not only as an MP but also like a daughter, and I hope that this relationship will always remain. My role model, my father Late Pramod Mahajan Ji showed me the path of ‘Nation first, then us’. I pray to God that I can follow the same path throughout my life. Every moment of my life will always be dedicated to the service of this country. Hail India, Hail Maharashtra,” she said in a post on X.

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