Ajit Pawar’s NCP will emerge ‘kingmaker’ in Maharashtra, will join govt ‘on own terms’—Nawab Malik

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New Delhi: Denying any ties to Dawood Ibrahim, Nawab Malik of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) says he intends to sue those linking him to the fugitive gangster to tarnish his image..

In an exclusive interview with ThePrint, Malik says this time there is no wave in any one partys favour in Maharashtra, and claims Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will emerge as the kingmaker this election...

Among those who have accused Malik of having ties with Dawood is Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is a part of the ruling Mahayuti along with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Shiv Sena of CM Eknath Shinde..

We feel when the results come, no government will be formed without the support of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), he says.. Underlining that political winds in the state have changed course since the Lok Sabha elections, he then talks about the Ajit Pawar-led NCPs decision to align with the BJP..

He also counters criticism of Ajit Pawar for his decision to split the NCP and join Mahayuti by asking if there is any political party or leader apart from the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav who did not enter into some sort of political arrangement with the BJP at some point...

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