MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday called a meeting of his party’s ministers and leaders during which it was decided that arrested minister Nawab Malik would not be asked to resign despite the repeated demands by the BJP during the Assembly session.
Nawab Malik was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case allegedly linked to the ‘D-Company’. After the meeting, NCP state president Jayant Patil said it was not mandatory to seek resignation of a minister until the crime is proven.
Targeting the opposition BJP, Patil said there were efforts to put the Maha Vikas Aghadi ministers in trouble.“Come what may, we will not seek Malik’s resignation. Let the BJP put forth its stand on Malik during the session and an appropriate answer will be given to them,” Jayant Patil said.
“If everyday some kind of action is being taken against ministers, it is not mandatory to seek their resignation. If the crime is not yet proved, why should the person resign? In the case of (former home minister) Anil Deshmukh, we took his resignation immediately when he was arrested, but it was later understood that the allegations against him were frail. There are efforts to put our ministers in trouble,” he said.