Mumbai: Congress denies ticket to Govinda

Denying ticket to Bollywood actor Govinda, the Congress today fielded Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman Sanjay Nirupam as its candidate from Mumbai North to take on former Union Minister Ram Naik of BJP.

Mumbai Regional Congress Committee President Kripashankar Singh was a strong contender for the seat.

Senior leader Gurudas Kamat has been re-nominated from Mumbai North-West against Kirit Somayya of the BJP.

Prateek Patil, grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil, has been again given the ticket from Sangli despite senior Maharashtra minister Patangrao Kadam making a strong pitch for his son Vishwajit.

Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who filed his papers today, has been nominated from Solapur. The constituency has become a reserved one after renomination.

While Kalyan Kale has been fielded from Jalna, former MP Uttamsinh Pawar will be in the fray from Aurangabad.
Chances of Govinda being re-nominated were bleak as the party leadership had taken a dim view of his performance for five years as MP and his failure to attend Parliament, including on some crucial votings.