Some NCP ministers on Wednesday evening held a meeting at Silver Oak, the residence of party chief Sharad Pawar, to discuss the situation arising after the arrest of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif and Rajesh Tope and other leaders attended the meeting.
After the meeting, senior NCP leader and State Food Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that all the three MVA parties are united against the action against Nawab Malik. On Thursday, at 10 am, all the ministers of the MVA government will sit on a dharna in front of the effigy of Mahatma Gandhi in front of the ministry. After that, from Friday, a sit-in protest will be held across the state from district level to taluk level against the vendetta politics of the central government.
Bhujbal said that Malik has been wrongly arrested. Since Malik speaks fearlessly against the BJP and the central government, he is being targeted. Not only this, efforts are being made to demoralize each and every minister through central investigative agencies, which we will fight.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and PWD Minister Ashok Chavan met Sharad Pawar and discussed the situation arising after Malik’s arrest.
Nawab Malik of Balrampur district of UP became a millionaire from scrap
Nawab Malik, 62, is the Minister of Minority Affairs as well as Enterprise and Skill Development Department of Maharashtra. Malik Ishanya, considered close to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, is an MLA from Mumbai’s Anushakti Nagar seat. There have been many allegations of corruption and misconduct against him in the past. His journey from becoming an MLA from a scrapyard in Mumbai and then a minister is quite interesting. But, he has also had a deep connection with controversies.
The family of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik is a native of Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. Before the birth of the Nawab, his father Mohammad Islam Malik had settled in Mumbai. But after that again his father had gone to the village. Malik was born on 20 June 1959 in his native village of Utraula Tehsil of Balrampur.
After the birth of the Nawab, his family returned to Mumbai. He had a small hotel in Mumbai and also started a small scrap business. In 1980, at the age of 21, Nawab married Mahzabeen. He has two sons and two daughters. The names of the sons are Faraz and Amir while the names of daughters are Nilofar and Sana.
In 1996, he became an MLA from SP for the first time.
After the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai after the demolition of the Babri structure in 1993, the Samajwadi Party became popular among Muslim voters in Mumbai. During this, Malik joined the SP and contested from Nehrunagar seat in the 1995 assembly elections and lost to Suryakant Mhadik of Shiv Sena. But in the same year, Malik won and entered the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Actually, a petition was filed against Mhadik seeking votes on the basis of religion, in which he was found guilty. Therefore his membership was canceled and in the 1996 by-election, Malik won the election by six and a half thousand votes. After that, Malik won again in 1999 from Nehru Nagar. Then the Congress-NCP alliance came to power in Maharashtra. On supporting this alliance, the SP also got a share in power and Nawab Malik became the Minister of State. After this he became disillusioned with the SP and joined the NCP while being a minister.
Anna Hazare had leveled the allegation of corruption, had to resign from the post of minister
This is not the first time that Nawab Malik has been accused of corruption. Earlier in the year 2005-2006, the famous social worker Anna Hazare had accused Nawab Malik of corruption in the Jariwala Chal redevelopment scheme in Mahim. Hazare was sitting on a dharna at Azad Maidan in Mumbai regarding this. After that Malik had to resign from the government of the then Vilasrao Deshmukh. After nearly 12 years, Malik got relief from the Supreme Court.
Malik has several acres of land in Balrampur and Osmanabad
According to the affidavit issued by Nawab Malik in the year 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, his total assets are 5 crore 74 lakh 69 thousand. Malik has a loan of Rs 45 lakh. Apart from this, Nawab Malik and his wife Mehjabeen Malik have stake in many firms including Steel, Heera Diamond, Malik Infra. He also has a Skoda car and a car registered in his wife’s name. Nawab Malik and his wife have several acres of cultivable land in Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh and Osmanabad in Maharashtra.