Malik to share stage with Ajit at rally Monday

Arrested in February 2022 in connection with a money laundering case, Mailk was released on bail in August 2023 but has not shared the stage with Pawar publicly since, feeding speculations of him jumping ship

Mumbai: Former minority affairs minister and Anushakti Nagar MLA Nawab Malik is set to be part of deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar’s ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’ through his constituency on Monday, paving the way for his rapprochement with the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Arrested in February 2022 in connection with a money laundering case, Mailk was released on bail in August 2023 but has not shared the stage with Pawar publicly since, feeding speculations of him jumping ship. BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis too had vetoed efforts to bring him into the alliance

Former minority affairs minister and Anushakti Nagar MLA Nawab Malik (HT PHOTO)

Pawar commenced the month-long first leg of his ‘Jan Samman Yatra’ from Nashik on August 7. The yatra, launched in anticipation of the upcoming assembly polls, is focussed on promoting various welfare schemes of the state government, particularly the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which has created a buzz among women across the state.

On Monday, the yatra will reach Mumbai. It will start from the Vandre East assembly constituency and proceed to the Anushakti Nagar constituency, represented by Malik. The yatra earlier was scheduled to travel through the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency, but the plan has been kept in abeyance.

The former minority affairs minister will accompany Pawar when the yatra passes through his constituency, marking the first occasion when the two will be seen together since he was released on interim bail on medical grounds on August 11, 2023. On Sunday, Malik, through a post on social media platform X, urged people in his constituency to throng the yatra in large numbers.

Malik had attended the NCP’s core committee meeting held in Pune two days ago. The party leadership decided to include him in the yatra despite strong objections from the BJP. In December last year, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had objected to his possible induction in the ruling alliance, saying, “We do not have any personal enmity with him but considering the allegations against him, we think it will not be appropriate to include him in Mahayuti.”

In the Vandre East assembly constituency, from where the yatra will commence on Monday, Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique is likely to join Pawar amid speculations that he may soon switch over to the NCP.

Both Anushakti Nagar and Vandre East constituencies have a significant number of Muslim voters.