The Triple alliance government in Maharashtra is facing rumbling within as deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote to his cabinet colleague and NCP leader Ajit Pawar expressing opposition to the induction of NCP MLA Nawab Malik, an accused in an Enforcement Directorate case, in the ruling `Maha Yuti’ or grand alliance in the state.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis writes to NCP leader Ajit Pawar to not include NCP leader Nawab Malik in the ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance) pic.twitter.com/5NQtNrabdw
— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2023
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Ambadas Danve and Sushma Andhare targeted the government over Malik `joining’ the treasury benches, even though he himself has not made it clear whether he is affiliated to the Ajit Pawar-led rebel NCP group or the Sharad Pawar-led faction.
Out on medical bail after the ED arrested him in February 2022 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides, Malik attended the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature here for the first time on Thursday. He sat on the last bench in the assembly, next to the MLAs of the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
On Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis’s letter to NCP leader Ajit Pawar, BJP leader Ashish Shelar told ANI , “BJP had cleared its stand – for us country is more important than power. Power comes and goes but we cannot & will not compromise on some points. With the kind of accusations that are levelled against Nawab Malik, BJP cannot accept the support of a person…”
