Mumbai North Central (Parliamentary Constituency number 29) is a Lok Sabha constituency in the state of Maharashtra. It consists of six Vidhan Sabha segments: 167-Vile Parle, 168-Chandivali, 174-Kurla, 175-Kalina, 176-Bandra (east), 177- Bandra (west).

Mumbai North Central constituency was formed before 1952. These six Vidhan Sabha constituencies came under Mumbai North Central after the delimitation of 2008. The first MP to be elected from Mumbai North Central after the delimitation was Priya Dutt of the Indian National Congress in 2009.  Poonam Mahajan of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been the MP for this constituency, winning two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019.

Constituency map

At a glance – Mumbai North Central Constituency

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Read more: My fight is issue-based: Varsha Gaikwad, Congress candidate, Mumbai North Central

Key candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha elections 2024

Additional Information

Out of 45 candidates, who filed nominations in the Mumbai North Central constituency, 17 got rejected, one candidate withdrew nomination. In all 27 candidates got accepted and are contesting. There are 15 independent candidates.

Varsha Gaikwad

Varsha Gaikwad, the Mumbai unit chief of the Congress is a four-time MLA from the Dharavi assembly constituency, getting elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time in 2004. This is her first foray into national electoral politics.

• Profession: Social worker/MLA
• Political experience: She has been the MLA from the Dharavi assembly segment from 2004 to 2024. She has held positions such as Minister for Medical Education, Higher and Technical Education, and Minister for Women and Child Welfare.
• Cases: her affidavit with the ECI shows 7 cases pending against her—6 are related to protesting without permission.
• Online: X – @VarshaEGaikwad Instagram-@varshaeknathgaikwad

Watch our exclusive interview with Varsha Gaikwad here.

Ujwal Nikam

Ujwal Nikam gained fame as a public prosecutor in the Ajmal Kasab case. He admitted that he had lied about Kasab demanding biryani in jail to stem the emotional support that was developing in Kasab’s favour during the trial. He has been given a ticket in place of the two-time MP from this constituency, Poonam Mahajan.

• Profession: Advocate
• Political experience: This is Ujwal Nikam’s first entry into electoral politics. Before this he worked as the Special Public Prosecutor. He resigned from this post in order to file his nomination.
• Cases: According to the affidavit filed with the ECI, no cases are pending against Ujwal Nikam.
• Online: X – @miujjwalnikam Instagram – @miujjwalnikam

Past election results

Key issues in North Central Constituency

The Bandra Kurla Complex, an important business hub in Mumbai falls in this constituency. It witnesses commuters’ agony as they struggle to get transport like rickshaws to the closest railway stations of Bandra and Kurla on a daily basis. They say that the lack of a proper public transport system makes their daily commute to their workplace difficult, with situation worsening during rains. The upcoming metro is not expected to reduce these troubles because of the position of the stations.

Vile Parle is seeing multiple redevelopment projects. This area has also shown up high on the air quality index parameters (AQI). Experts believe that the increasing construction activity is a major contributor to the poor air quality.

The residents of Kailna have been battling water shortage, with some days where they don’t have access to even drinking water. Residents have claimed that water is being diverted to the newly constructed high-rises in the area.

Traffic snarls have been notorious in Chandivali, prompting residents to go on a hunger strike to get the construction of the 90-feet road started. This road will cut down the commute from Chandivali to JVLR. After the strike, the BMC floated a tender for building the road. The work is going slowly, although this road has been in the BMC’s development plan for the past 30 years.

The Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association not only came up with a ‘Chandivali Cha Manifesto’ but also presented it to both Varsha Gaikwad the Congress candidate and Ujwal Nikam, the BJP candidate.

Candidates in the news

Varsha Gaikwad

Varsha Gaikwad has been actively interacting with different civic groups such as AGNI, Chandivali Citizens’ Welfare Association and others in the lead up to the elections. She has assured citizens that she will look into the problems of the constituency. She has also said that her USP is the fact that she is accessible to people to want to approach her with issues. 

Ujwal Nikam

This is Ujwal Nikam’s first foray into politics. He resigned as the special public prosecutor to file his nomination. He has been a successful special public prosecutor and has handled several high profile and important cases such as the 1993 serial blasts case, Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 26/11 terror attack case (which led to conviction and death sentence to Ajmal Kasab).

His candidature was announced quite late by the BJP. He has said that he chose to fight on the BJP’s ticket because he believes that the BJP has a vision for the security of the country. In the past he had been offered a ticket by the NCP to contest from Jalgaon, which he refused. He too has been interacting with different civic groups in the lead up to the elections.

Also read:

• ‘Malleable, uncertain but determined to vote:’ Thoughts of a first-time voter from Mumbai
• Mumbai: Which Parliamentary constituency do you belong to?
• Lok Sabha 2024: Voter guide to help you vote in this election