Mumbai:
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today joined the opposition over the BJP's choice of a candidate from the Mumbai North Central constituency. In recent days, the declaration of Ujjwal Nikam, the former special prosecutor, as a candidate has sparked a row.
Fadnavis said the opposition is “concerned about Ajmal Kasab” and wants to support terrorists by targeting Mr Nikam. “According to Opposition Leader Vijay Waddetiwar, Ujjwal has insulted Nikam Kasab. Kasab terrorized the city and Congress is worried about him. Mahayuti supports Ujjwal Nikam and MVA supports Kasab. Now you decide who to vote for,” he said.
The BJP had dropped sitting legislator Poonam Mahajan and announced the name of Mr Nikam, who had earlier made headlines for his comments on 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab. His comments had caused an uproar in legal circles and sparked a fierce political battle. Mr Nikam was the government's lawyer in the case.
The Congress had mocked the BJP for its choice. Senior leader Supriya Shrinate said the BJP had chosen a candidate whose “lie about 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab getting biryani in jail had been exposed in the past”.
The leader Fadnavis referred to, Congress's Vijay Wadettiwar, landed in a major controversy after he said Ajmal Kasab had not killed police officer Hemant Karkare but a police officer associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor. Ujjwal Nikam was a traitor who suppressed this fact. His comments have drawn criticism from the Shiv Sena.
Of the ten Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai in 2008 and killed 166 people, Ajmal Kasab was the only one taken alive. He was kept in a Mumbai jail for almost four years and hanged in Pune in November 2012.
In 2009, then public prosecutor Nikam had stated that Kasab had asked for biryani while in custody. But after questions from the special court, he had said it was a story he had “made up”.
“Kasab never demanded biryani and he was never served by the government. I only thought of it to break the emotional atmosphere that took shape during the trial in favor of Kasab,” he had told the media. .