Ajit Pawar's NCP fields Nawab Malik from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar despite pushback from BJP

Ajit Pawar's NCP on Tuesday fielded Nawab Malik from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency in Maharashtra. The BJP had opposed Malik's candidature in the assembly election due to his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

After filing his nomination, Malik said, "Today, I filed a nomination from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency as NCP candidate. I had filed the form as an Independent candidate also. But the party has sent the AB form and we have submitted it at 2.55 pm and now I am official candidate of NCP."

Malik thanked Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare for feilding him. "They have confidence in me. A huge number of voters will definitely support me. I am very confident that this time we will win the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency."

Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi is the sitting MLA from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. 

Earlier this month, BJP's Ashish Shelar said his party was against the candidature of Malik. "We will not accept giving a ticket to someone linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim," Shelar, Mumbai BJP president, said. “We won’t support Malik and will have a different stand." 

Nawab Malik is the sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar in the Mumbai South-Central parliamentary constituency. This time, his daughter Sana Malik is contesting from the Anushakti Nagar constituency on the NCP ticket.

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 and his associates including Chhota Shakeel and Tigar Memon. He was granted bail on medical grounds in July this year. After the NCP split, the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar took the MLA into its fold, despite objections from ally BJP.