Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut expressed confidence in the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) prospects of victory in the Lok Sabha elections, particularly in the seat where Ujjwal Nikam, the renowned 26/11 prosecutor, has been fielded by the BJP.
Raut, while commenting on Nikam’s candidature from Mumbai North Central as a BJP candidate, suggested that Nikam should have contested from Jalgaon, his hometown.
“MVA will secure victory in the constituency where Ujjawal has been nominated to contest. We are confident of a 100 per cent win,” Raut said.
The Shiv Sena leader asserted that a lot of leaders of the Mahayuti declined to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North Central seat.
“Many leaders of Mahayuti have declined to contest in that seat. No one is prepared to compete from that area of Mumbai. Ujjawal Nikam should have contested from Jalgaon, his hometown, but he chose to contest in Mumbai. There will be a good fight there, I believe,” Raut asserted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), part of the Mahayuti alliance, has fielded Ujjwal Nikam, who was a special public prosecutor in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack case, from Mumbai North Central in the Lok Sabha elections.
Nikam was special public prosecutor in several high profile cases including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught after the 26/11 attacks. He is pitted against Congress’ Mumbai unit chief and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad.
The BJP decided to drop sitting MP Poonam Mahajan, the two-time party MP from the Mumbai North Central seat.
In his first response after the BJP announced his candidature, Ujjwal Nikam called it the “second inning in the new temple of democracy”.
The 26/11 prosecutor also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda and party leaders in Maharashtra for vesting in him the ‘responsibility’ of contesting and winning the Mumbai North Central seat.
“Indeed, it was a very pleasant and surprising moment for me. All my life, I have practised law to bring criminals to justice. Now, God has given me an opportunity to start my second inning in the new temple of democracy–the Parliament,” Nikam told reporters following the BJP’s announcement on Saturday
