NCP's Jayant Patil dubs Fadnavis letter to Ajit Pawar on Nawab Malik "an explanation to people"

"Today, he (Nawab Malik) came to Vidhan Sabha and was sitting on the ruling party's side. So, the BJP wrote this letter as a way of offering an explanation to the people (for the split in the NCP). Instead of sending a letter to Ajit Pawar, he (Fadnavis) could have just called and informed him. I think this letter was the government's way of giving an explanation (amid Malik's induction to the ruling alliance) to the people of Maharashtra," Patil told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday.

Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said, "I feel that Nawab Malik is with the 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance)."

Fadnavis on Thursday wrote to his cabinet colleague and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, expressing opposition to the induction of Malik in the ruling 'Maha Yuti' or grand alliance in the state.

"Given that he is an accused (in a money laundering case), we are of the opinion that it would not be proper to induct him into the ruling alliance. Power comes and goes but the country is paramount," Fadnavis said.

"We agree that it is your prerogative (to decide) who should be inducted in your party. But every constituent (in the Maha Yuti) has to think as to whether it would harm the alliance," Fadnavis said, adding, "Hence, we are opposed to this".

Malik is currently out on medical bail after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in February 2022 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

Malik was a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government at the time of his arrest.

Malik attended the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Assembly here for the first time since his bail on Thursday.

He sat on the last bench in the assembly, next to the MLAs of the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party. (ANI)