Does Ajit want Malik to garner Muslim votes?

Though Ajit Pawar on Friday clarified that Nawab Malik is yet to join his party, people from his faction say the deputy chief minister is keen on taking him on board because he was the Muslim face in the undivided NCP and could play a crucial role in getting votes from the community in the upcoming polls

Though Ajit Pawar on Friday clarified that Nawab Malik is yet to join his party, people from his faction say the deputy chief minister is keen on taking him on board because he was the Muslim face in the undivided NCP and could play a crucial role in getting votes from the community in the upcoming polls.

Nagpur: NCP MLA Nawab Malik during the first day of the Winter session of Maharashtra Assembly at Vidhan Bhawan, in Nagpur, Thursday Dec. 7, 2023. (PTI Photo)(PTI12_07_2023_000324B) (PTI)

“Malik was a vocal leader of NCP for several years. He has been the party’s Muslim face, and it would help us if he was with our faction. Otherwise, he is just the 43rd NCP MLA to join us,” a senior leader from Ajit Pawar faction said, requesting anonymity.

Also, it was clear on the legislature premises in Nagpur on Thursday that Malik, the only NCP MLA from Mumbai, had sided with Ajit Pawar camp though the former claimed he is “neutral” as of now.

Significantly, chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which supported Fadnavis’s stand on Malik, on Friday alleged that Ajit Pawar faction wanted him with an eye on Muslim votes. “They are looking at Muslim votes. That’s why they want Malik,” said Sena spokesperson and legislator Sanjay Shirsat.

In fact, leaders from Ajit Pawar faction have been claiming that their party has not accepted BJP’s ideology despite being together in power. Recently speaking at a party conclave in Karjat in Raigad district, Ajit made it clear that his faction would not deviate from NCP’s ideology.

On Friday, Praful Patel, senior leader from his faction, too said their party would remain firm on its secular stand. “We have not given up on our secular stand,” he told reporters in Nagpur after meeting Fadnavis.