Mahayuti allies NCP Ajit Pawar faction and BJP seem to have a difference of opinion on the candidate for Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency, with NCP fielding its candidate there. Dismissing BJP's opposition, NCP announced Nawab Malik as its candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar while the BJP has declared Suresh Krishna Patil aka 'Bullet Patil' as Mahayuti's official candidate.
Malik filed the nominations at the last minute, shocking the BJP camp which immediately put out a post announcing Bullet Patil as the official candidate. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya took to X to announce that the official candidate was Shiv Sena leader Bullet Patil.
Malik too went public with his candidate stating that he filed a nomination from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency as NCP candidate. "I also filed the form as an independent candidate. But the party has sent the AB form and we submitted it at 2.55 pm and now I am the official candidate of NCP. I am very thankful to Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. They have confidence in me," he told ANI, adding that he was confident of winning the constituency this time.
The seat is currently held by Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi.
Why BJP opposes Nawab Malik?
BJP leader Ashish Shelar has already made it clear that his party was against the candidature of NCP leader Nawab Malik for the upcoming Assembly election. The reason for their opposition was Malik's alleged links with the Dawood Ibrahim crime syndicate.
“We will not accept giving a ticket to someone linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim,” the Mumbai BJP president said, adding that, “We won’t support Malik and will have a different stand.”
Malik, who was a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government before the NCP split, was arrested in 2022 for his alleged links with Dawood and his associates including Chhota Shakeel and Tiger Memon. The allegation against him was that he usurped property in Kurla with the help of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's sister. He was granted bail on medical grounds in July this year.
Malik was a two-time MLA from Anushakti Nagar who joined Ajit Pawar earlier in the month to leave the NCP. Earlier, he stated that he would contest as an independent from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. His daughter Sana Malik is contesting from Anushakti Nagar.
Issues within MVA
Besides Malik and Patil, the other candidate in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena's Rajendra Waghmare. He has filed nominations both as an Independent and as a Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate. This has not gone well with Abu Azmi, who has raised the issue with the MVA against Waghmare's candidature as SP is an ally of the coalition.