Urmila Matondkar joins Congress, to contest from Mumbai North

Urmila Matondkar with Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Pic/PTI

After much speculation, veteran actor Urmila Matondkar joined the Congress, which has decided to field her from the Mumbai North constituency against BJP's Gopal Shetty.

Matondkar travelled to Delhi on Wednesday and met party president Rahul Gandhi, after which she was formally inducted in the Congress fold. Matondkar's entry was facilitated by former Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam. Her candidature will be announced in the next list of the Congress party.

Matondkar will be the second Bollywood celebrity after Govinda to contest from North as Congress nominee. Govinda had ended the unbeaten streak of BJP veteran Ram Naik, who is now UP governor. He retired from electoral politics and was not fielded by the party in 2009. Nirupam replaced him and won the seat, but then lost in 2014 to Shetty. Nirupam has since shifted to North West and left the North to be defended by Matondkar's glamour quotient and Marathi credentials.

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