Swikruti Sharma, wife of former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, recently joined the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction and was expected to contest the election on their ticket. However, after being denied a party ticket, she filed her nomination as an independent candidate from the Andheri East constituency. As a precaution, her daughter Niketa also filed a nomination, allowing her to step in if her mother’s application was rejected. With both applications now accepted by the Election Commission, Niketa will withdraw her nomination. In their affidavits, Swikruti Sharma declared assets totalling Rs 36.45 crore, while her daughter disclosed total assets amounting to Rs 11.96 crore.

“All the assets declared in the affidavit belong to me; my husband has hardly any share in them. These properties were earned through various businesses and have been fully declared to the income tax authorities. Similar declarations were made by my husband in 2019 when he contested the elections from Nallasopara, and there has been hardly any increase in assets over the last five years—only the value of the immovable assets has appreciated,” Swikruti told 
mid-day.