Maharashtra Election 2024: Devendra Fadnavis says BJP won’t campaign for Nawab Malik for the upcoming polls

Maharashtra Election 2024: Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis has said he or his party’s leaders will not campaign for Nawab Malik – the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency in Mumbai.

Earlier, BJP's Mumbai unit chief, Ashish Shelar has said that Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP faction, should not have given a ticket to Nawab Malik, considering the serious allegations against him.

“We have already clarified our position. We will not campaign for him at any cost,” Fadnavis, who earlier accused Malik of having links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, told reporters on October 31.

Malik filed nomination paper for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly electionss cheduled to be held on November 20, 2024.

Mahayuti leaders will campaign for the Shiv Sena candidate in Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar instead, Fadnavis said. “There is no question of Malik being part of the government formed by Mahayuti after the election,” he said.

Malik was a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and was arrested in 2022 in a case first registered by the NIA against Dawood Ibrahim and his associates including Chhota Shakeel and Tigar Memon. He was, however, granted bail on medical grounds by the supreme court in August 2023.

‘Oppose international terrorist like Dawood’

Shelar, the Mumbai BJP chief, said that the saffron party cannot associate with such individuals.

"Ajit Pawar should not have given him a ticket; many in Maharashtra think this way. The serious allegations and chargesheet against him are unacceptable to Maharashtra. Maharashtra opposes an international terrorist like Dawood. Despite this, if he has been given a ticket, the BJP cannot associate with such people," Shelar told news agency ANI.

Malik's candidature has lead to some friction with the ruling Mahayuti alliance of Maharashtra especially between the BJP and NCP-Ajit Pawar

The BJP is currently in alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the Mahayuti banner.

The Assembly elections for the 288 Maharashtra constituencies will take place in a single phase on 20 November, with vote counting scheduled for 23 November.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena 56, and Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63, and Congress 42.