Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Former cop and encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma’s wife files nomination as Independent

Sharma, a decorated cop, is also incidentally an accused in the February 2021 case where gelatin sticks were found in a car near Antilia, the residence of Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani.

Mumbai: Former police officer and encounter-specialist Pradeep Sharma’s wife Swikriti Sharma has filed nomination papers from Mumbai’s Andheri East seat as an Independent.

The two main candidates for the Andheri East contest are Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s Murji Patel and Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT)’s sitting MLA Rutuja Latke, who has won the byelections in 2022 following the death of her husband Ramesh Latke, who won in 2019 from undivided Shiv Sena.

While Shinde-Sena was initially keen that Sharma would be fielded, they backed out as Patel joined the Shiv Sena leaving the BJP, with which he was earlier associated.

“We are not upset but disappointed by the candidate selection (of Maha Yuti) from the Andheri East seat…we will contest the elections,” she said.

In the 2019 polls, Sharma, an officer of the rank of Senior Inspector of Police, after taking VRS, unsuccessfully contested the Nalasopara seat from Palghar district.

Sharma had eliminated 113 criminals including gangsters, underworld dons, terrorists and sharpshooters.

Incidentally, Sharma, who belongs to the 1983-batch of the Nashik-based Maharashtra Police Academy, is also an accused in February 2021 shocking planting of gelatin sticks-laden Mahindra Scorpio near Antilia, the residence of Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani and the subsequent shocking murder of the SUV owner Mansukh Hiran. Sharma, who was arrested by the NIA, is currently on bail in the Antilia-Mansukh Hiran case.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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