Who Is Padma Shri Ujjwal Nikam: BJP's Lok Sabha Candidate Responsible For Ajmal Kasab's Conviction

Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha Election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a strategic move to field senior lawyer Ujjwal Deorao Nikam as their candidate for the Mumbai North Central constituency, replacing Poonam Mahajan.

Nikam, a renowned public prosecutor, will represent the BJP against Congress’s city unit chief and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal supported the party’s decision to nominate Nikam, stating that it is a proud moment for the BJP to choose someone who will speak out against terrorism and work in alignment with PM Modi’s vision of eradicating it from its roots.

As for Mahajan’s position, party leaders claimed that the decision to drop her was based on organisational feedback after several poll surveys showed a negative rating.

As Nikam replaces BJP’s previous candidate Poonam Mahajan, who won the seat for the party in 2014 and 2019, defeating Congress’s Priya Dutt, here’s a brief account of his career and contribution.

Who is Ujjwal Deorao Nikam?

• Born in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Nikam, is a special public prosecutor, with over 30 years of illustrious legal career.
• Nikam started his journey as a district prosecutor and worked his way up to handle several high-profile cases, including the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
• Nikam has been a vocal advocate for victims of heinous crimes, including the 2013 Mumbai gang rape case and the 2016 Kopardi rape and murder case.
• In his 30 years of legal career, Nikam set an impressive track record of securing 628 life imprisonment sentences and 37 death penalties.
• Nikam argued on behalf of the state during the 26/11 Mumbai attack trial. At the time, he faced heavy criticism for planting a story about Ajmal Kasab, the convict in the 26/11 Mumbai attack trial, that he asked for “mutton Biryani” in jail. Later, he confessed about the same stating that he wanted to break an emotional wave that was being created in favour of the terrorist.
• The BJP candidate was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2016.

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