August 11th 2023.
Mumbai: The grant of bail to Nawab Malik by the Supreme Court on Friday has been a welcome relief for his family and supporters. The main question that has arisen is which faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) he will join: that of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar or Sharad Pawar's.
Malik, a seasoned politician with a keen eye for politics, has been a vocal opponent of the BJP, which Ajit Pawar has aligned himself with. However, the issue is that Sharad Pawar has only a handful of MLAs left in his camp, which does not offer much to Malik.
Pawar Sr is yet to regain his footing in state politics after his nephew's rebellion. His political credibility has also been affected by his frequent changes of stance on various issues. An NCP insider said, “Given this backdrop, it is not clear what role Malik will be able to play in Mr. Pawar's party, which has been reduced to a marginal force.”
This has not been helped by Sharad Pawar's actions when Malik was in trouble. When Sanjay Raut, Uddhav Thackeray's confidante, was faced with a predicament, Pawar had specially flown down to New Delhi to plead his case with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But when his own party leader, Nawab Malik, was in trouble, he chose to remain quiet. This has raised questions among Malik's loyalists. Similarly, during the time when Malik was publicly criticising the then zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Sameer Wankhede, his boss Pawar had maintained a stoic silence.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed draft charges against Malik in a money laundering case, with a hearing set for July 24. If Malik decides to defect to Ajit Pawar's camp, there is a chance he could receive assistance from the ED, which had arrested him in February 2022. This is in line with what happened with other NCP and Shiv Sena leaders who were charged by the ED, but were given a reprieve after they either joined the BJP or voiced their support for the saffron ruling party.
The government counsel did not oppose Malik's bail application before the Supreme Court bench, however his health condition will be a deciding factor. He has been undergoing medical treatment for 16 months for a kidney ailment.
Today, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will convene to decide the future course of action. It remains to be seen which way Malik will turn.
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