Ajit Pawar will be kingmaker in Maha after polls: Nawab Malik

Nationalist Congress Party leader and candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Assembly constituency Nawab Malik said on Sunday that he is solely the candidate of his party as the Mahayuti alliance fighting against him in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Saying that his fight is with the Mahayuti alliance partners and Samajwadi Party too, he told ANI, "I am the candidate of Nationalist Congress Party, I am with Ajit Pawar, he has made me a candidate, now Mahayuti alliance people, whether from Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, they are fighting the elections against me and my fight is with them."

He further said that he believes Ajit Pawar will play a key role as a "kingmaker" after the elections.

"There is a very tough competition in Maharashtra. We cannot predict who will get the majority. On both sides, there is an alliance of 3 parties. So, Ajit Pawar will play a big role in the formation of government... No one can neglect the fact that Ajit Pawar will play the role of kingmaker in Maharashtra," he said.

Addressing the accusations of being silent over having links with Dawood Ibrahim and the underworld, he added, "The way I am being linked to the underworld, people have even called me a traitor in the Vidhan Sabha, and connecting me to terrorists, I have said clearly that we did not reply to it because there was a restriction of speaking on it. Whoever tries to defame my image, they have a right to speak and I have the right to defend. There are laws in the country too."

"Through criminal defamation or civil defamation, we will take action against the people who have been putting these false allegations against me," he added.

NCP's Mahayuti's alliance partners, Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) have expressed their opposition to Malik's candidature.

Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar already clarified that the party would not be campaigning in support of Nationalist Congress Party's (Ajit Pawar) Nawab Malik.

The Shiv Sena has also expressed opposition, claiming his links with underworld don and gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Nawab Malik further told ANI, "Whatever politics they have they will decide, I also have my politics. I have been in politics for 50 years. People have seen me do the work as a five time MLA, a six time minister. We are not scared of these allegations, but whoever is putting these false allegations we would need to investigate them."

Earlier, Sana Malik, NCP candidate from Anushkati Nagar seat and daughter of Nawab Malik attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for opposing her father.

Sana said that the BJP has always opposed Nawab Malik but the NCP have faith in the people that they will make him win.

"The issues in Lok Sabha were different. But what kind of work has the MP done in the last 6 months? All these things are being discussed among the people today. In the assembly elections, people believe that if we are electing an MLA, then how much work will he do for us or how accessible he is to us, all these things are being discussed," Sana Malik told ANI on Saturday.

The Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44.

In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.