13 July,2025 06:58 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ujjwal Nikam (above) was the special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. File Pic/Kirti Surve Parade
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday congratulated eminent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam for being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, and lauded his contribution in fighting cases against terrorists and enemies of the country, reported the PTI.
Ujjwal Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.
On November 26, 2008, ten terrorists trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai including the Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus train station, killing 166 people.
Apart from Ujjwal Nikam, former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Kerala BJP leader C Sadanandan Master and Delhi-based historian Meenakshi Jain have also been nominated to the Rajya Sabha, according to the PTI.
In a notification issued late Saturday night, the Union Home Ministry said the President has nominated the four to the Rajya Sabha.
To a query, CM Fadnavis told reporters Maharashtra's Nagpur, "I am very happy that a renowned lawyer who fought cases in courts against the country's enemies, and by whose efforts many terrorists and criminals were punished, has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha," as per the PTI.
"I thank the President (Droupadi Murmu) and the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). This shows that the prime minister always stands behind nationalists," CM Fadnavis said.
Nikam is a renowned lawyer and had served as a government counsel in the Mumbai terror attacks case.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde also congratulated Ujjwal Nikam for his nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
In a post on X, Shinde wrote, "A highly intelligent, resolute, talented, fearless, and astute legal expert, senior and renowned lawyer Padmashri Ujjwal Nikam, who has fought many significant cases in the country and secured convictions for the accused, has been appointed as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for his future endeavors."
The BJP fielded him as party candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North Central seat, but he lost to Congress' Varsha Gaikwad.
The President nominates 12 persons to the Rajya Sabha, who are people of eminence in various fields. Four seats were vacant.
(with PTI inputs)
