Pawar says Malik targeted for speaking out against BJP

The NCP and the Congress on Wednesday criticised the BJP-run central government for the raids on Maharashtra’s Minority Affairs Minister, Nawab Malik. The parties, which share power with the Shiv Sena at the state level, said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had targeted Malik for speaking out against the BJP.

Hours after the ED summoned Malik for questioning, NCP founder-president Sharad Pawar said the party knew he would be in the BJP crosshairs.

“We knew Nawab Malik would be targeted in this manner as he has been vocal and speaking out [against the BJP and the Centre],” Pawar said.

The NCP leader said he was also accused of having ties with the underworld when he was the chief minister. “You all would have been very young… when I was chief minister, I also faced allegations, 25 years later, the same trick is being used to harass and defame,” he said.

“They take the name of Dawood, especially if there is a Muslim activist,” Pawar said.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole called the ED’s action an act of “revenge”.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Patole said the Congress stood firmly with Malik, who has been raising his voice against the BJP’s “anti-people” policies and “arrogance of power”.

“We will discuss such actions by central probe agencies and unitedly fight against the tactics to silence political opponents,” the Congress leader said. 

He also accused the BJP of maligning Maharashtra for the sake of power.

The ED questioned Malik on Wednesday in a money laundering probe linked to the activities of the fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides, officials said.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil told reporters in Pune that if leaders of the NCP and other MVA constituents think that the ED’s action constituted misuse of power, they could approach the courts for justice.

“We [BJP] have been subjected to injustice for the last 27 months [by the state government], but when our 12 MLAs were suspended, we went to court and got justice. Similarly, if they think that victimisation is happening, they should approach the court,” he said.