BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Nawab Malik can’t be accepted in the grand alliance. He wrote a letter to Ajit Pawar on Thursday expressing reservations about the inclusion of Nawab Malik in the Mahayuti alliance due to criminal charges pending against the NCP leader.
This comes after Malik attended the winter session of the Maharashtra assembly in Nagpur on Wednesday. Despite the objections from Fadnavis and the BJP, Malik confirmed his allegiance to Ajit Pawar’s faction of NCP by sitting on the treasury benches in the assembly.
In his letter, Fadnavis wrote that as an MLA, Malik has right to attend the house, and it is the prerogative of the Ajit Pawar’s party to choose its members. But he added that the constituents of the alliance should ensure that it does not hinder the grand alliance.
Stressing that he does not have personal enmity or grudge against with Malik, Devendra Fadnavis said that he is accused in serious charges and he is out on bail only on medical grounds. “Given the kind of allegations levelled against him, we are of the view that it would not be appropriate to include him in the Grand Alliance,” the BJP leader wrote.
सत्ता येते आणि जाते.
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) December 7, 2023
पण सत्तेपेक्षा देश महत्वाचा… pic.twitter.com/WDzm3Pjo3f
“Power comes and goes. But the country is more important than power,” Fadnavis said in the letter. He said that if the charges against Nawab Malik are not proved, he would be welcomed in the alliance. “But we are of the clear opinion that it will not be right to make him a part of the Grand Alliance when there are such allegations,” he added.
Devendra Fadnavis mentioned that Malik was retained the post of minister even after he was arrested in charges of links with anti-national elements. We will not be able to agree with the views of the then Chief Minister and the Mahavikas Aghadi government, Fadnavis wrote, adding, “I hope you take note of our feelings.”
Malik was granted bail on medical grounds in August this year, who was arrested by ED in February last year in a money laundering case with links to terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. The ED has submitted a 5,000 page charge-sheet against him documenting his connection with the Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case.
In February last year, the National Investigation Agency had revealed that fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was planning to launch terror attacks on India using explosives and lethal weapons. He had formed a special unit with the aim of inciting violence in different parts of the country.
The probe agency has also said that he has been transferring funds through Hawala channels to provide financial help to all those involved in a planned attack. He is involved in promoting anti-national activities and is also trying to create a rift between different religious groups, the agency added.
Nawab Malik’s name reportedly appeared in the process of investigation after the intelligence inputs directed the agency to look into the hawala transaction while probing a money laundering case against Ibrahim, Iqbal Mirchi, Chhota Shakeel, Parkar and Javed Chikna. The agency traced several hawala transactions linked to money illegally obtained through extortion, drug trafficking, sale of real estate in Nagpada and Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, and other unlawful activities.
