Ajit Pawar defends decision to give Nawab Malik Mankhurd ticket, rejects Aghadi allegations of industrialist influence

New Delhi: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, on Thursday defended his decision to offer a ticket to Nawab Malik to contest from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, despite the serious allegations against him.
Malik was arrested in 2022 on charges of having links with Dawood Ibrahim's associates, but no court has proven these allegations yet.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, Pawar stated, "The allegation against Nawab Malik has not been proven, so why not give him a ticket?" He compared Malik's situation to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who faced accusations during his time in office. "Many allegations were made against Rajiv Gandhi, like Bofors, but that doesn't mean he is an accused. This is a democracy, we can't blame anyone without evidence," Pawar said.
Pawar then emphasized that allegations must be proven in court before anyone is declared guilty. "Allegations are easy to make, but they must be proven in court. Right now, these are just accusations. We are not accusing anyone without solid proof," he said.
The NCP leader also addressed the practice of making allegations in politics, noting that it happens frequently but does not always have solid backing. "In a democracy, anyone can make accusations against anyone," he added. He mentioned that even allegations against figures like Rajiv Gandhi did not lead to a legal conviction.
Pawar also responded to Maha Vikas Aghadi's allegations that the current Mahayuti government is influenced by industrialists, especially regarding business magnates like Adani. "This is 101% wrong. In Maharashtra, it doesn't work like that. There are very big industries in Maharashtra, but they do their work separately, and the Maharashtra government looks after the state's affairs. Now, they (the opposition) throw such allegations during the election," he added.
He continued, "So, you see, all the Chief Ministers who have been made till date, all the Chief Ministers. One (Eknath Shinde) is from Shiv Sena, and only for 5 years did Devendra Fadnavis of BJP become the Chief Minister, Uddhav was also from Shiv Sena,... and the rest are all from Congress. Everyone works with them (the industrialists). So, which Chief Minister decided after listening to the industrialists? They should say."
Earlier in the interview, Pawar also explained why all candidates of the NCP had not attended Prime Minister Modi's rally in Mumbai. He stated, "On that day, there was a rally in Pune. There were 21 candidates from the Mahayuti alliance. But 5-6 didn't come, and only 15 attended. No one questioned why they weren't there. But when Zeeshan, Sana, and others didn't attend, it became a point of discussion." He added that the absence of certain candidates was due to scheduling conflicts.