The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded resignation of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik who was arrested on Wednesday by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. The party said it will hit the streets and agitate if the minister does not resign.
"After the arrest by ED, Malik has no moral and legal right to remain in the position of a cabinet minister. I would like to request Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to take a decision (on his resignation) at the earliest," state BJP president Chandrakant Patil said.
Patil said there is a big list of leaders and ministers from the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state and competition is on among themselves that who will go to jail first in order to secure a good cell.
"One minister had to resign in connection with the alleged suicide of a woman, another cabinet minister who was home minister of the state, is currently in jail. A police officer, who was commissioner of Mumbai, was at large for some time, another police officer, Sachin Waze is in jail," he said.
Patil said if the ruling parties feel there is a misuse of power they can move court and seek 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.”
Malik, a senior NCP leader and State Minority Affairs Minister, was arrested after being questioned for several hours by the ED in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
MVA parties defend Malik
Parties of the Maharashtra ruling alliance—NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress—have strongly come out in support of Malik, accusing the BJP of “political vendetta”.
"Which case have they dug up? It is simple. They take the name of Dawood, especially if there is a Muslim activist (against whom a case is dug up)…There is no relation (between the activist concerned and underworld), but it is done,” NCP chief Sharad Pawar said.
He alleged that the central government was taking names of the underworld only to defame and trouble people.
NCP termed the action against Malik as a “pressure tactics” to silence his voice since he was exposing the wrongdoing of some people.
Party’s Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule wondered why the ED’s notice is issued only to the opposition leaders. "Once you quit your own party and join them, then the notice disappears or goes into a shredder. We should know which shredder is this," she said, adding that she will raise the issue in Parliament during the next session.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the central investigation agencies were acting like mafia and targeting BJP’s political opponents. "This (targeting of individuals by digging old cases) will continue till 2024 and after that they will have to face the consequences," Raut said.
The Congress party, too, has come out in support of Malik with its state president Nana Patole terming the NCP leader’s arrest as an “act of revenge”.
He said Malik was targeted as he has been raising his voice against the BJP's "anti-people" policies and its "arrogance of power".
With PTI inputs
