The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday fielded former special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam as its Lok Sabha candidate from the Mumbai North Central seat. He will face Congress's Varsha Gaikwad. BJP has made outgoing MP Poonam Mahajan its candidate from Mumbai North Central and replaced Nikam as its candidate.
According to the report, party leaders said the decision to remove Mahajan was based on organizational reaction after several surveys showed negative ratings for him. Some leaders also claimed that this decision was taken some time ago but the party took time to find a leader to replace him.
Born in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, Ujjwal Nikam was a distinguished government lawyer. He started his career as a district attorney in Jalgaon and then worked his way up to state and national trials. Nikam has been associated with several prominent cases including the 1993 Bombay blasts, Gulshan Kumar murder case, Pramod Mahajan murder case and 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2013 Mumbai gang rape case, 2016 Kopardi rape and murder case.
During the hearing of 26/11 Mumbai attack, Ujjwal Nikam had argued on behalf of the government. It was his logic that led Kasab to be hanged. Let us tell you that he was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2016. His son Aniket Nikam is also a criminal lawyer in the Mumbai High Court.