Mumbai, 5 May (HS): Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, targeted the opposition on Sunday in protesting the BJP's choice of candidate for the Mumbai North Central constituency. The recent announcement of Ujjwal Nikam, a former special public prosecutor, as a contender has stirred controversy.

Fadnavis stated that the Opposition is concerned about Ajmal Kasab and intends to encourage terrorists by attacking Nikam. The Congress is saying that Ujjwal Nikam insulted Kasab. Kasab terrorised the city, and the Congress is concerned about him.

Mahayuti is backing Ujjwal Nikam, whereas MVA is supporting Kasab. Now you must select who to vote for, he continued. The BJP has dismissed sitting MP Poonam Mahajan in favor of Nikam, who had previously made news for his statements about 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab. His words caused a stir in legal circles and sparked a heated political debate. Nikam was the government's lawyer in this case.

The Congress had been the first to ridicule the BJP's pick. According to senior politician Supriya Shrinate, the BJP nominated a candidate whose lie about 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab being served biryani in jail had been exposed in the past.

Nikam's fabrication about Ajmal Kasab being fed Biryani in jail was uncovered a few years ago, and he had also admitted his lying, she stated.

Ajmal Kasab was the only one of the ten Pakistani terrorists apprehended alive after the 2008 Mumbai massacre, which murdered 166 people. He spent nearly four years in a Mumbai prison before being hung in Pune in November 2012.

In 2009, then-public prosecutor Nikam stated that Kasab had requested biryani while in jail. However, in response to queries from the special court, he stated that it was a made-up narrative. Kasab never ordered biryani, and the government never provided it to him. I made it solely to disrupt an emotional environment that was developing in favour of Kasab throughout the trial, he told the journalists.

Hindusthan Samachar/Abhishek Awasthi/Manoj