Lawyer Ujjwal Nikam. File
| Photo Credit: Vivek Bendre
The BJP on April 27 dropped incumbent Lok Sabha MP Poonam Mahajan as its candidate from the Mumbai North Central seat and named lawyer Ujjwal Deorao Nikam in her place.
Mr. Nikam is a well-known name in the legal circle and was a government counsel in the the Mumbai terror attack case.
Ms. Mahajan, the daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, was elected from the constituency in 2014 and 2019.
She is also a former president of the BJP’s youth wing.
Party leaders have claimed that the decision to drop her was based on organisational feedback.
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, sources said.
The Congress has fielded its city unit chief and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central.
Voting in Mumbai is scheduled to be held on May 20 in the fifth phase of the polls.
The BJP also named eight more candidates for the Odisha assembly polls, which will be held alongside the general elections.
