BJP opposes NCP's candidate Nawab Malik in Maharashtra elections
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opposed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)'s decision to field Nawab Malik from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The BJP has instead backed Shiv Sena's Suresh Krishna Patil, popularly known as Bullet Patil, for the constituency.
"Mahayuti (Shivsena) official candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is Bullet Patil," announced BJP leader Kriti Somaiya on X.
Candidacy controversy
Malik's nomination and BJP's opposition
Malik filed his nomination as an NCP candidate on Tuesday, after initially planning to contest independently.
He was reportedly denied a ticket under pressure from the BJP.
The party's opposition to Malik is due to his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
"We will not accept giving a ticket to someone linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim," Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said.
Election overview
Maharashtra Assembly elections: Key details
The Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held on November 20 and the results will be declared on November 23.
The deadline for nominations ended on Tuesday with 10,905 papers filed across the state's 288 constituencies.
Under the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP will contest from 152 seats, Shiv Sena from 80 seats and NCP from 51 seats.
MVA strategy
Maha Vikas Aghadi's seat distribution and candidate nominations
In contrast, in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Congress will contest 101 seats, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) 96 seats, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 87 seats.
Nominations may be adjusted until November 4 as alliances finalize arrangements.
Zeeshan Siddique, who recently joined the NCP, is contesting from Vandre East after leaving Congress over seat allocation issues with Shiv Sena (UBT).