NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik gets taken to court, from the ED office in Mumbai. (PTI Photo/File) Nearly 23 days after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik’s party, the NCP, on Thursday decided to take away his portfolios.
The 62-year-old minister held the Minority Affairs and the Skill Development portfolios in the Shiv Sena-led MVA alliance government, of which the NCP is a part.
He was arrested by the ED in late February in connection with a case of money laundering against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He is at present in judicial custody.
State NCP chief and water resources minister Jayant Patil said Malik’s portfolios will be given temporarily to his Cabinet colleagues from the party.
The MVA government, however, will not seek Malik’s resignation as Cabinet minister, Patil added, and he will also continue to remain the NCP’s Mumbai unit chief. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said, will be informed about the decision and he will take the final call in this regard.
Patil said the decision was taken during a meeting of NCP leaders at the residence of party president Sharad Pawar.
The BJP had been protesting over the past few days, seeking Malik’s removal from Cabinet.
Apart from having the Cabinet portfolios, Malik was also appointed the guardian minister for Parbhani and Gondia districts.
The NCP has now decided to make Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde and Minister of State for Urban Development Prajakt Tanpure the guardian ministers of the two districts.
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