`Is MVA govt committed to Dawood Ibrahim?`: BJP demands Nawab Malik`s resignation

`Why is Malik being protected? Under whose pressure is the government working?` BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

New Delhi: Ahead of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Thursday (March 3, 2022) staged a protest against the Uddhav Thackeray-led government's decision to not remove Nawab Malik from his post.

The BJP has been demanding the removal of state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik from his post following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Devendra Fadnavis claimed it is for the first time in Maharashtra's history that a state cabinet minister has been arrested over links with the associates of Dawood Ibrahim, who is accused of masterminding the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

"Why is Malik being protected? Is this government committed to Dawood Ibrahim? Under whose pressure is the government working?" Fadnavis asked the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The former CM also said the BJP was firm on its demand for Malik's resignation.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should break his silence over the entire Nawab Malik episode, he said.

Maha Governor Bhagat Koshyari leaves Vidhan Bhavan without completing address

Meanwhile, the first day of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session on Thursday witnessed unprecedented chaos as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari left the Central Hall of Vidhan Bhavan without completing his address to the joint session of both the Houses amid slogan-shouting by legislators.

As soon as the governor arrived on stage in the Central Hall, legislators of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi shouted slogans against Koshyari and in praise of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

State Congress president Nana Patole criticised the governor over some of his recent remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and said he should apologise.

The governor had during a programme in Aurangabad underlined the role of the guru (teacher) while citing the examples of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chandragupta Maurya.

"Many chakravartis (emperors), maharajas took birth on this land. But, who would have asked about Chandragupta had there not been Chanakya? Who would have asked about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had there not been Samarth (Ramdas)," he had said.

(With agency inputs)