BJP seeks Nawab Malik's resignation after arrest by ED; Raut says he was held in 'cunning manner'
Mumbai, Feb 23: The BJP on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik following his arrest by the ED, but Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut countered it saying that the NCP leader should not be asked to step down as he was held in a "cunning manner".
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Malik in a money laundering case linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, his aides and the Mumbai underworld.
The 62-year-old NCP leader was taken to the ED's office in south Mumbai for questioning in the morning and was later arrested.
Malik is the first serving cabinet minister to be arrested on money laundering charges.
Following his arrest, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil demanded that the minister should be removed from the state cabinet.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "There is a law, which states that a minister should be removed from his post if he is facing criminal charges. Malik should be removed or asked to step down from his post."
Apart from being the chief spokesperson of NCP, Malik is the Minority Affairs and Skill Development Minister in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
"Two chief ministers of Maharashtra had resigned from their post in the past after facing such serious allegations. It is a tradition in the state to step away from a constitutional post till the charges are cleared," he said.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said, "After former home minister Anil Deshmukh, now Malik has been arrested under the ongoing probe by the ED...Those ministers who are indulging in corrupt practices in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government will face the consequences. We will make Maharashtra corruption-free."
Countering the BJP's attack, Sanjay Raut said in a tweet, "Attempts of backstabbing are on since it is not possible to fight the MVA face-to-face...Let it be.. Let there be euphoria that a minister has been arrested in a cunning manner. Nawab Malik shouldn't be asked to resign. We will fight and win. Even Kansa and Ravana were killed. This is Hindutva. Jai maharashtra!"
महाविकास आघाडीशी समोरा समोर लढता येत नसल्याने पाठीमागून अफझलखानी वार सुरू आहेत..चालू द्या . एक मंत्री कपट करून आत टाकला असे आनंदाचे भरते आले असेल तर येऊद्या. नवाब मलिक यांचा राजीनामा घेऊ नये.. लढत राहू आणि जिंकू.
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) February 23, 2022
कंस आणि रावण सुध्दा मारले गेले...हेच हिंदुत्व आहे..
जय महाराष्ट्र!
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
