WEB DESK
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a phone call to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar on the phone over the arrest of Nawab Malik and expressed her solidarity with the Maharashtra minister.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested NCP leader Nawab Malik in connection with a case related to elements linked to Dawood Ibrahim and the underworld.
Mamata Banerjee said a strong and united Opposition must be built to counter the way the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are being used against Opposition leaders.
Besides, Mamata Banerjee has always maintained that BJP uses Central agencies against Opposition parties to counter them politically.
Nawab Malik was issued summons to appear before the ED in a case registered against underworld don and terror financer Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees, Iqbal, aide Chota Shakeel and others. Nawab Malik’s deal with an aide of Dawood Ibrahim Sardar Shahvali Khan and Haseena Parkar’s bodyguard Salim Patel is under the scanner of the agency.
Last week, the ED started conducting searches at various locations across Mumbai for elements related to the underworld and Dawood Ibrahim. The ED raids were in connection with the recently registered case against Dawood Ibrahim by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The West Bengal Chief Minister too had faced a similar situation ahead of last year’s state elections when several party leaders including ministers were targeted by central investigative agencies.
Mamata Banerjee had firmly rebuffed calls for their resignation at that time.
On Friday, Ms Banerjee condemned Nawab Malik’s arrest advised Sharad Pawar not to “play into the hands of the BJP” by dropping him from the Maharashtra government.
“Tomorrow will protest peacefully near Mahatma Gandhi memorial in front of Mantralaya (Maharashtra secretariat). All three parties are together and will be part of this movement,” ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Chhagan Bhujbal said at a news conference.
“In the last 30 years, no one took the name of Nawab Malik with the Mumbai blasts. But now that he is speaking against Union Government, hence to shut his mouth, today he was arrested. This is very unfortunate. This is an attempt to create pressure on MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra’s ruling coalition). We all condemn this. This is against democracy,” Mr Bhujbal said.