NCP leader Nawab Malik who is contesting from Mumbai’s Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar against Samajwadi Party’s state chief Abu Asim Azmi on Friday said that he will not use PM Modi’s photo in his election campaign.
In a statement to the media, Malik said, “We will not use PM Modi's photo in our campaign."
Malik’s statement comes a day after NCP president Ajit Pawar, going against the BJP, kicked off his party’s Mumbai poll campaign from Malik’s constituency on Thursday.
Maha always maintained communal harmony': Ajit Pawar on 'Batenge to Katenge' call
Earlier, Pawar on Friday strongly opposed the 'Batenge to Katenge' call given by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the Maharashtra Assembly campaign, saying the state has always maintained communal harmony.
"Leaders from outside the state are coming and making statements. But Maharashtra has always maintained communal harmony," said Ajit Pawar, who has always argued that the NCP, under his leadership, is committed to the secular thoughts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Shau Maharaj and BR Ambedkar.
Pawar has fielded five Muslim candidates in Mankhurd-Shivajinagar, Anushakti Nagar, Bandra East, Kalwa-Mumbra and Kagal constituencies during the present elections in Maharashtra.
Chief Minister Adityanath in a rally on Wednesday said: "When we are divided, we are attacked. 'Jab batenge, tab katenge'. So don't be divided, you will be safe only if you are united."
Opposing the 'Batenge to Katenge' campaign, Ajit Pawar has thereby asked the allies "not to vitiate the social and communal harmony" so that the elections take place smoothly.
Leaders from outside states should not come here: Ajit Pawar
"It would be wrong to compare Maharashtra with other states. The people of Maharashtra have maintained a progressive attitude to date. Leaders from outside states should not come here and make different statements. Maharashtra is a follower of the ideas of Shiv-Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar. Maharashtra has never accepted the ideas that leaders from outside the state are putting forth," said Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Pawar's move to disown the 'Batenge to Katenge' campaign comes even as several other BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and party Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar, supported it.
Despite strong opposition from the BJP, Ajit Pawar not only fielded Nawab Malik, who was currently on medical bail in the money laundering case but also attended the roadshow in Mankhurd Shivajinagar, from where he is contesting, and in Anushakti Nagar, where Malik's daughter Sana Malik was the party nominee.
Incidentally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded its nominee in the Mankhurd-Shivajinagar against Malik despite both being allies in the Mahayuti.
BJP leaders, including Fadnavis and Shelar, have reiterated that the party won't support Nawab Malik for alleged links with underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim. Even Nawab Malik has threatened to initiate action if the allegations were levelled against him about his links with Dawood Ibrahim.
Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in February 2022 and was released on bail in August 2023.
Ajit Pawar claimed that none of the allegations against Nawab Malik have been proven. "Nawab Malik cannot be held guilty just because the allegations are levelled against him. I will campaign for him," he said.
