The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday denied ticket to its Mumbai North Central MP Poonam Mahajan and instead picked prominent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, who was the special public prosecutor in Mumbai terror attack and 1993 serial blasts cases, as its nominee against Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad.

Nikam acquired a celebrity status when a hundred accused were convicted in the Mumbai blasts case while the 26/11 terror attack trial culminated in the hanging of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive by the police.