Wed Oct 30 13:42:15 UTC 2024: ## NCP’s Malik Confident of Victory Despite BJP’s Refusal to Campaign for Him
**Hyderabad:** Nawab Malik, the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) candidate for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency, has declared his confidence in winning despite the BJP’s refusal to campaign for him.
Malik slammed the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena for fielding their candidate, Suresh Patil, against him. He asserted that their opposition would not deter him and that he would secure a comfortable victory.
“Despite the BJP and Shinde faction’s candidate, Suresh Patil, contesting against me, I am confident of winning with a large margin,” Malik said. He added that the same situation prevails in the constituency where his daughter is contesting.
He claimed that the opposition wouldn’t affect their chances of winning both constituencies. “We were expecting this,” he remarked.
The BJP has openly opposed Malik’s candidature and has categorically refused to campaign for him. This development has raised eyebrows, highlighting tensions within the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, where the BJP, Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar faction of NCP are key partners.
The decision of the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena to field a candidate against an NCP leader, backed by the BJP, has further exposed the cracks within the alliance.
First Piper 