Ujjwal Nikam replaces Poonam Mahajan for Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat. Why did BJP drop the two-time sitting MP?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped incumbent Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) as its Mumbai North Central seat candidate. The saffron party has, instead, fielded well-known lawyer from the seat.

Nikam, 71, is a well-known name in the legal circle and was a government counsel in the case. Among other cases, Nikam has also handled the 2006 murder of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan – Poonam Mahajan’s late father.

Mahajan, 43, was elected from the constituency in 2014 and 2019. She is also a former president of the BJP's youth wing.

The saffron party has dropped all its MPs from Mumbai for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The two others are Manoj Kotak from Mumbai North East and Gopal Shetty from Mumbai North. While Shetty is a party veteran and two-time MP and Mahajan a two-time MP, Kotak is a first-time MP.

But why was Poonam Mahajan, a two-term MP dropped?

Dropping sitting MP’s is, perhaps, in line with BJP’s pan-India strategy of fielding new faces in pursuance of its 370-seat target for the seven-phase general elections. With two phases over, five more phases of elections are to be held. The results will be announced on June 4.

In Poonam Mahajan’s case, speculations suggested that she would not be fielded this time, even before the o on April 27. Many say the party’s internal surveys didn’t favour her candidature, especially due to her anti-incumbency during her last two terms as MP.

Some reports suggested that the party was in two minds over Poonam Mahajan, hence the delayed announcement. One faction, said sources, wanted to field Poonam; the other faction was against it.

“The Mumbai and Maharashtra BJP units had recommended the candidature of Poonam. But then the final call is taken after deliberations at the