Day after Fadnavis' letter to Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel holds talks with Deputy CM

"A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief, Devendra Fadnavis, wrote to his peer, Ajit Pawar, expressing his reservations about including Nawab Malik in the ruling ‘Maha Yuti’ alliance, NCP leader and Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel met both the deputy CMs in Mumbai on Friday. Patel arrived at the Vidhan Bhavan and first met Fadnavis. He held talks with Fadnavis for more than 15 minutes. Later, Patel met Ajit Pawar in the latter’s office. Patel belongs to the NCP group led by Ajit Pawar.

On Thursday, Fadnavis wrote a letter to Ajit Pawar opposing NCP leader Nawab Malik sitting on a treasury bench seat. In his letter, Fadnavis conveyed his reservation about including Malik, an accused in an ED case, in the ruling ‘Maha Yuti’ alliance. Out on medical bail after the ED arrested him in February 2022 in a money-laundering probe, Malik attended the winter session of the state legislature for the first time on Thursday and was later seen in the office of Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the legislature complex. In the House, he was seen sitting in the last row, next to an MLA of the Ajit Pawar faction.

In his letter to Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis said Malik has the right to attend the assembly as an MLA and added that "we (the BJP) do not harbor any personal animosity or grudge" against him. “However, considering the kind of allegations he is facing, we are of the opinion that it would not be appropriate to induct him in the Maha Yuti,” the BJP leader said while also noting that Malik was out only on medical bail. “We agree that it is your prerogative (to decide) who should be inducted into your party. But every constituent party (of the Maha Yuti) has to think as to whether it would harm the alliance. Hence, we are opposed to this,” Fadnavis added."