Rift in Mahayuti as Ajit Pawar snubs BJP over Nawab Malik

NEW DELHI: Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday triggered a massive rift in Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti as it fielded

Nawab Malik

from

Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar

assembly seat ignoring very strong objections from the BJP which had openly opposed the former state minister’s candidature.
The surprise move, which perhaps was strategically delayed to the last day of filing of nominations, evoked strong reactions from the BJP which immediately announced that Shiv Sena’s Suresj Krishna Patil will be Mahayuti’s ‘official’ candidate on the seat.
“Mahayuti (Shivsena) official candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is Bullet Patil. We will fight to defeat candidates supporting Vote Jihad, Terrorism,” BJP leader Kirti Somaiya said.

Nawab Malik, who is the sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar and is out on medical bail, said: “Today, I filed a nomination from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency as an NCP candidate. I had filed the form as an Independent candidate also. But the party has sent the AB form and we submitted it at 2.55pm and now I am the official candidate of NCP.”
He thanked the NCP leadership for confiding in him. “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 and I am very confident that this time we will win the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency,” 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 held for allegedly usurping a property in Kurla with the help of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s sister. Malik was granted bail on medical grounds in July this year. The two-time MLA from Anushakti Nagar had earlier in the month announced that he would contest from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat as an Independent candidate after he was denied ticket by the NCP due to pressure from the BJP.
Under pressure from the BJP, the NCP had kept silent on Malik’s candidature till the last day of filing of nominations. In fact, the NCP list of 27 star campaigners announced last week did not feature Nawab Malik. It seems, Ajit Pawar had tactfully delayed this decision to the last moment.
Four-cornered contest in Mankhurd shivaji Nagar: Who will gain from division of votes?
The Mankhurd shivaji Nagar seat has been represented by Abu Asim Azmi of Samajwadi Party since 2009. He had won the seat in 2019 assembly elections by around 25,000 votes defeating Shiv Sena’s Vithal Govind Lokhare. The seat is one of the 6 assembly segments of the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by Shiv Sena(UBT)’s Sanjay Dina Patil. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena has already announced Rajendra Waghmare as its candidate from the seat. Waghmare, a former corporator, submitted two nomination forms: one as an independent candidate and the other as a Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee. This despite the fact that Mankhurd is one of the five seats which Abu Azmi had sought for the Samajwadi Party from the Maha Vikas Aghadi. In fact, Azmi had threatened to field 25 Independents if his demand was not met by the MVA.
The Mankhurd seat has a sizeable Muslim population and the presence of Nawab Malik in the electoral fray may end up dividing their votes. However, with both Shinde Sena and Uddhav Sena also putting their hat in the ring it would be interesting to see who eventually benefits from division of votes in this four cornered contest.