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'Allegations serious': Cong's Nana Patole wants CM Uddhav to probe Malik-Fadnavis row
Describing the current political situation in Maharashtra as terrible, Patole said, “Leaders are making allegations against each other. It is bringing shame to the state."
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on demanded chief minister Uddhav Thackeray institute an investigation into allegations and counter-allegations levelled against each other by minister Nawab Malik and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis.
The Shiv Sena supremo heads a coalition government Maha Vikas Aghadi in which the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are partners. Malik is a veteran leader of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, while Fadnavis, a former chief minister, is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Describing the current political situation in Maharashtra as terrible, Patole said, “Leaders are making allegations against each other. It is bringing shame to the state. The allegations made by the former chief minister and the state minister against each other are serious,” the Congress leader was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Also read | 'Never to wrestle with a pig', says Fadnavis as Nawab Malik speaks of underworld, fake currencies
Earlier in the day, Malik accused Fadnavis of patronising a fake currency racket and shielding people with underworld links during the latter’s tenure as chief minister.
This came a day after Fadnavis said the NCP leader made property dealings with convicts of the 1993 Mumbai blasts accused.
Malik also accused Fadnavis of shielding the Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, against whom the minister has levelled several serious allegations, including extortion and fraudulent use of caste card to obtain the government job.
Also read | Sameer Wankhede’s father meets Maharashtra governor with wife and daughter in tow
The latest round of war of words is an aftermath of the Wankhede-led sensational drugs bust case in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan is an accused and arrested last month. He was granted bail by the Bombay high court after spending more than 20 days in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail.
Malik has said Wankhede and BJP leader Mohit Kamboj were part of a plot to kidnap Aryan and demand ransom from the Bollywood superstar.
Wankhede has been removed the case and a team from the NCB's Delhi unit has taken over the investigation.
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