Beyond don Chhota Rajan’s shadow: Will Deepak Nikalje get a place in Maharashtra assembly?

Deepak is contesting the polls from the Chembur constituency on a Republican Party of India (A) ticket.

He is a filmmaker who has produced a blockbuster like Vaastav. He is also a real estate developer and has been involved in the construction business for a long time. Additionally, he is a politician who has been contesting elections for the past two decades. However, his independent identity is often overshadowed by his brother's. Deepak Nikalje is better known as the brother of Chhota Rajan, who is incarcerated in Tihar Jail. Deepak is contesting the assembly polls from the Chembur constituency on a Republican Party of India (A) ticket.

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This is the fourth time Deepak Nikalje is running for a seat in the legislative assembly. He made his debut in 2004 from Chembur and has contested every election since then except in 2019. Although Nikalje has lost each time, he has consistently garnered a sizeable number of votes, influencing the poll results. In his first attempt, he secured over 22,000 votes, and in 2014, he received more than 36,000 votes, finishing third in the contest. Prakash Phatarpekar of the Shiv Sena has been elected as the MLA consecutively since 2014.

Although Deepak Nikalje is the brother of a gangster, he has not been accused of being involved in Chhota Rajan's organized crime syndicate. A few minor offences have been registered against him, unlike Chhota Rajan, who has a long history of crimes, including murder, attempted murder, and extortion. Chhota Rajan is serving a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of veteran journalist J. Dey in June 2011.

Chhota Rajan has never interfered in his brother's political career. In fact, in an interview about a decade ago, he expressed his disapproval of Deepak contesting elections and advised him to stay away from politics. According to Chhota Rajan, Deepak was not shrewd enough to survive in politics. Despite his objection, their sister Sunita Nikalje supported Deepak’s political aspirations and often accompanied him during his election campaigns.

In his campaign, Deepak Nikalje has promised to address local issues. The Chembur constituency is adjacent to the Deonar dumping ground, which has caused severe pollution and health concerns. Nikalje claims that, if elected, he will bring this issue to the assembly. The Chembur constituency has a sizeable Muslim and Buddhist population, the latter being the community to which Nikalje belongs. In this election, his main opponents are Prakash Phatarpekar of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Tukaram Kate of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

Interestingly, during the 2009 polls, rumors circulated about Chhota Rajan’s nemesis, Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, intending to contest the election. However, no political party was willing to associate with him. Kaskar was deported from the UAE in 2003 and was booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).