Ministers, 'spiderman', IIM graduate file nominations in Mumbai

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) An assortment of candidates ranging from a union minister to an IIM graduate, a celebrity hotelier and 'Spiderman' Friday filed their nominations for the six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai.

Union Shipping Minister Milind Deora, son of veteran Congressman and ex-minister Murli Deora filed his nomination from Mumbai South as also did his Bharatiya Janata Party's Kirit Somaiya from Mubai North-East.

He will also face Gaurav Sharma, the "desi Spiderman" known to clamber up tall buildings with ease but now taking his first steps up the political ladder as an independent candidate for Mumbai South. He came attired in his traditional Spiderman costume for filing nominations.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Mayank Gandhi and Shiv Sena's former minister Gajanan Kirtikar filed nominations for Mumbai North-West where the main contender is former union minister Gurudas Kamat of the Congress.

Celebrity hotelier, Farhan Azmi, son of state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Asim Azmi, entered the fray in Mumbai North-Central.

In Mumbai South-Central, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena legislator and former minister Bala Nandgaonkar, two-time Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad and AAP's S. Balakrishnan also filed their nomination papers.

In Mumbai North-East, BJP's Somaiya and sitting MP Sanjay Dina Patil, of the Nationalist Congress Party, filed their nominations with the accompaniment of huge crowds of supporters.

Indian Institute of Management graduate Satish Jain, of the AAP, filed his nominations from Mumbai North where he will contest against the Congress' formidable Sanjay Nirupam and the BJP's Gopal Shetty.

Nirupam, Shetty, sitting Mumbai North-Central MP Priya Dutt of the Congress, Poonam Mahajan - the daughter of the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Kamat, Arvind Sawant, Aditya Shirodkar, actor Kamal Khan and independent contender Rakhi Sawant were among those who filed their nominations earlier this week.