Nawab Malik being linked to Dawood because he is Muslim: Sharad Pawar

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that the arrest of party leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik is politically motivated and attempts were made to connect him to fugitive Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim because he is a MuslimHe also dismissed the demands raised by the Opposition seeking the resignation of MalikMalik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on February 23 in a moneylaundering probe linked to the activities of Dawood Ibrahim and his aidesMaliks arrest is a politically motivated one He is being linked to Dawood Ibrahim because he is a Muslim Malik and his family members are being deliberately harassed but we will fight back the NCP chief saidWhen asked about the opposition BJPs demand for Maliks resignation as a minister Pawar said different yardsticks are being applied to Union minister Narayan Rane who belongs to BJP and MalikI dont remember our Congress former party worker Narayan Rane had to resign after his arrest recently Tomorrow Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Pune He may explain more about it Applying one yardstick for Malik and another for Rane shows that all this was politically motivated he claimedRane was arrested last August by the police at Sangameshwar in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra for his statement that he would have slapped state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for forgetting the year India got freedom during his Independence Day speechSpeaking about the alleged tapping of phones of select politicians when BJP was in power in Maharashtra Pawar said I have seen the record of phone tapping of various leaders It was done during the tenure of the Devendra Fadnavis governmentOfficials merely followed the orders and are now facing the consequences I have never seen such a situation in the country beforePawar also took a swipe at BJP and Maharashtra governor B S Koshyari who has not approved the names of 12 MLCs sent to him by the Maharashtra cabinet for more than a year ago for their nomination to the Legislative CouncilMaharashtra has the legacy of governors like PC Alexander among others I should not talk about what the present governor is doing The Central government is doing whatever it can do and Maharashtra is the latest exampleGetting nominated to the Vidhan Parishad is ones democratic right But a year has passed and nothing is being done If someone has decided not to maintain the prestige of the Constitutional post then whats the need to comment Pawar saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever