BJP has rejected the candidature of the sitting MP Poonam Mahajan from the North Central Mumbai constituency and announced the candidature of eminent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam. The image of Nikam as a patriot and Hindutva is being created by the BJP as he appeared in cases like Mumbai blasts and terrorist attacks.
BJP has announced the candidature of Adv Ujjwal Nikam from North Central Mumbai spread across Vile Parle, Bandra East and West, Chandivali, Kalina and Kurla. The confusion of candidacy in this constituency was going on for the last month. Poonam Mahajan's candidature was not announced in the first list of BJP in the state. It was almost clear then that Mahajan would not get the nomination.
Poonam Mahajan stopped campaigning from the second week of March. She also avoided attending party meetings. This raised a question mark on the candidature of Poonam Mahajan. It is said that the BJP has not nominated Mahajan for the third time due to the complaints of activists against Mahajan, lack of contact with the voters etc. Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar's candidature was discussed, but he did not want to go to Delhi. The party had asked eminent people in the film industry. Finally Ad Nikam has been nominated.
Try to use the image
In this constituency, the battle will now be fought between Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad and BJP's Ujjwal Nikam. Former Minister Varsha Gaikwad is a politician. Compared to this, Nikam is a newcomer. Hailing from Jalgaon, Nikam has little connection with North Central Mumbai. Nikam was never an active worker of BJP. Still BJP is trying to use his image. As both Piyush Goyal and Mihir Kotecha are Amrathi candidates in Mumbai, BJP has fielded Nikam, a Marathi face.
Why the failure?
Direct candidature has been announced for Ujjwal Nikam, who is neither active in BJP nor has played any role in the party so far. Nikam had not officially joined the party until the candidature was announced. Nikam is an eminent lawyer. Represented as special public prosecutor in various cases like 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai, 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, Khairlanji and Sonai massacres in which the accused were sentenced to death. Nikam came into limelight only through the bomb blast case. This is why the BJP is creating the image of Nikam as a patriot and a staunch Hindutva. BJP has calculated that Nikam will get good support in areas like Vileparle, Bandra, Kalina.
All the three MPs from Mumbai were seated at home
By rejecting the candidature of the three sitting MPs from Mumbai namely Gopal Shetty, Poonam Mahajan and Manoj Kotak, the BJP has taken precautions so that they do not suffer from the resentment of the opposition MPs. Shetty and Kotak were denied candidature in the first list. In North Central Mumbai, the fight over the candidate was going on for a long time. This is why the announcement of candidature has been delayed.
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