Nawab Malik trails behind Abu Azmi by 39,279 votes in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar

Nawab Malik is pitted against Samajwadi Party nominee and MVA-backed sitting MLA Abu Azmi and Shiv Sena’s Suresh Patil.

Nawab Malik, 65, is a prominent leader in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra who is currently trailing behind the Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi by 39,279 votes. He won the election from the Anushakti Nagar Constituency in 2019. However, he contested the 2024 election from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar.

Mumbai: NCP leader Nawab Malik shows his ink-marked finger after casting vote.(PTI file photo)

Nawab Malik is pitted against Samajwadi Party nominee and MVA-backed sitting MLA Abu Azmi and Shiv Sena’s Suresh Patil. Abu Azmi won the assembly election from the constituency in 2009, 2014 and 2019.

He is the national spokesperson and Mumbai president of the NCP.

Nawab Malik used to work closely with Maneka Gandhi. He contested his first election in 1984 and got only 2500 votes. He was elected to the Maharashtra assembly in 1996, 1999 and 2004 from Nehru Nagar. In 2009, he won from Anushakti Nagar in Mumbai. He lost the election in 2014 to Shiv Sena's Tukaram Ramkrishna Kate.

Malik had joined the NCP from the Samajwadi Party after alleged differences with Abu Azmi.

Malik is known for his strong political influence, especially among the Muslim community, in Mumbai. He is also a prominent politician in Maharashtra.

He is known for social work in education and the welfare of the minorities.

Nawab Malik got embroiled in a controversy with senior Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede. The Indian Revenue Services officer had in August 2022 lodged a complaint with the suburban Goregaon police against Malik under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. The complaint alleged that Malik had during interviews and on social media made defamatory remarks against Wankhede and his family members based on his caste.