Mumbai: Claiming that there may not be a clear winner, senior NCP leader Nawab Malik on Sunday said that his party chief Ajit Pawar will play the role of a kingmaker after the results of forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra.“I believe Ajit Pawar will emerge as a ‘kingmaker’ after the elections. It is certain that no government can be formed without considering Ajit Pawar,” Malik said. The NCP leader predicted that the contest for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha will be a close one and there may not be a clear winner. “There is a very tough competition in Maharashtra. We cannot predict who will get the clear majority. On both sides, there is an alliance of three parties. So, Ajit Pawar will play a big role in the formation of government. No one can ignore the fact that he will play the role of kingmaker in Maharashtra,” Malik said. Malik is contesting as Ajit Pawar’s NCP candidate from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency. However, his candidature has stoked a controversy as NCP’s allies in the ruling Mahayuti alliance – the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena – have opposed his nomination. Malik made it clear that he was solely the candidate of his party. “I am the candidate of NCP. I am with Ajit Pawar and he has made me a candidate. The Mahayuti people are fighting the elections against me and my fight is with them and Samajwadi Party too,” he said. In Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, Malik is pitted against Samajwadi Party nominee and MVA-backed sitting MLA Abu Azmi and Shinde Shiv Sena’s Suresh Patil. The BJP has clarified that the party would not be campaigning in support of Malik. “We have already clarified our position. We will not campaign for him at any cost,” Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has also fielded Malik’s daughter Sana Malik from the neighbouring Anushakti Nagar constituency, from where he has been a two-term MLA. Malik was arrested in a money laundering case and is also accused of having links with people close to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. He was granted medical bail in August 2023 on medical grounds.
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