30 October,2024 12:34 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate from Mankhurd seat Nawab Malik. (Pic/X)
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar announced that the party will not campaign for Nawab Malik, the Nationalist Congress Party's (Ajit Pawar) candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly seat, reported news agency ANI.
This decision underlines the BJP's longstanding position regarding Malik's alleged connections to Dawood Ibrahim.
Shelar reiterated the party's clear stance on Malik, stating, "Time and again, we have made our stand clear about Dawood Ibrahim and the people connected with him."
He emphasised that this position has been consistently communicated by senior BJP leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis.
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The Mumbai chief clarified that while alliance partners in the Mahayuti coalition have the right to nominate their candidates, the BJP opposes Malik's candidacy due to his controversial background.
"So, there is no question of us campaigning for Nawab Malik. BJP's stand on this issue is very clear. We are of the view that all the partners in Mahayuti have the right to declare their own candidates, whoever they want to, but here the question is about NCP's authorised candidate Nawab Malik who has been given a ticket," he said in a self-made video.
Despite the refusal to support Nawab Malik, Shelar expressed no objections to his daughter, Sana Malik, who is contesting from the Anushakti Nagar assembly seat as an NCP candidate.
Shelar indicated that if there are no allegations against a candidate, they should be treated equally within the coalition.
He noted, "Now remains the question of supporting Sana Malik because she is also a candidate of Mahayuti. We are of the view that there is nothing against someone, then it should be like that and each Mahayuti candidate is a candidate of BJP."
Nawab Malik on Tuesday filed his nomination as an NCP candidate after previously submitting his papers as an independent. The current assembly seat is held by Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party.
In expressing his gratitude towards NCP leaders, he said, "I am very thankful to (Deputy Chief Minister) Ajit Pawar, NCP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel, and NCP leader Sunil Tatkare. They have confidence in me (to win the elections)...A huge number of voters will support me."
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are set for November 20, with results for all 288 constituencies to be counted on November 23.
The BJP is part of a coalition known as Mahayuti, which includes NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde).
In contrast, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprises Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP secured 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. Before that in 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.
(With inputs from ANI)
