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Nawab Malik predicts this leader will be ‘kingmaker’ in Maharashtra after polls
Nawab Malik was arrested in a money laundering case in 2022. He was granted medical bail in August 2023 on medical grounds.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Sunday predicted that Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will emerge as a ‘kingmaker’ in the next government formation in the state after assembly elections.
“It is a neck-and-neck fight in Maharashtra. We can't be certain about who will get a clear majority. One or two parties will not form the government. There are multiple parties in both alliances. However, it is certain that no government can be formed without considering Ajit Pawar,” the former Maharashtra minister told ANI.
In another interview with PTI, Malik claimed that there are speculations about NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Eknath Shinde joining hands.
“There is politics of Aaya Ram gaya Raam (the dynamics are shifting) with Congress leaders moving to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and BJP leaders joining Congress. Those who were in the BJP have joined the NCP," he told ANI.
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In Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, Malik is pitted against Samajwadi Party nominee and MVA-backed sitting MLA Abu Azmi and Shiv Sena’s Suresh Patil.
“You can’t win the assembly elections with 28,000 votes. It’s true that Mahayuti has put up a candidate (Sena’s Suresh Patil) there, but I’m not in the fray out of my own will but that of the people. I am confident that I will be elected," PTI quoted Malik as saying.
Mahayuti allies BJP, Shiv Sena opposed candidature of Malik
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, allies of NCP in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, have opposed Nawab Malik's candidature.
“We have already clarified our position. We will not campaign for him at any cost," Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
Malik was arrested in a money laundering case and is also accused of having links with people close to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. He was granted medical bail in August 2023 on medical grounds.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
(With PTI, ANI inputs)
