Nawab Malik

Some Lesser Known Facts About Nawab Malik

• Nawab Malik is an Indian politician who is the National Spokesperson and Mumbai President of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In February 2022, Malik made headlines when he was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for an alleged money laundering case.

• Hailing from Dhuswa, a village close to the India-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh, Nawab Malik’s parents relocated to Mumbai for better career opportunities in 1970.

• His father, initially a ragpicker in Mumbai’s notorious neighbourhood Dongri, later ventured into the scrap business with the help of Malik, which flourished over time.

• He actively took part in social reforming activities since his college days.

• In 1979, Malik was drawn toward politics after participating in a protest against a fee hike by the University of Mumbai. His participation in the protest became a turning point in his life, leading him to pursue a career in activism and politics.

• He ventured into politics via Yuva Congress, the youth wing of the Indian National Congress (INC) party. He worked with INC under the leadership of Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi.

• After Sanjay Gandhi’s demise in 1980, his widow, Maneka Gandhi, founded a political party called ‘Sanjay Vichar Manch.’ In the 1984 Indian General elections, Malik contested the elections for the first time from the Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency seat as a candidate of the Sanjay Vichar Manch (SMV). In the elections, Malik lost the polls securing less than 3,000 votes. The seat was won by Congress candidate Gurudas Kamat by a margin of 96,274.

• A year later, a bypoll was declared on the Nehrunagar Assembly seat after the Supreme Court set aside Suryakant Mahadik’s election. In the 1996 Nehrunagar by-election, Malik contest the seat as a Samajwadi Party candidate and got elected as an MLA for the first time.

• In the 1999 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Nawab Malik contested and won the Nehrunagar Assembly seat as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party, defeating Shiv Sena candidate Manohar Salvi by a margin of 18458 votes. In the elections, he was one of only two SP winners across Maharashtra. In  Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party decided to become a part of the coalition government led by Congress and NCP. Samajwadi Party became a part of the coalition government led by Congress and NCP after the assembly polls in which Malik was appointed as a minister of state.

• In February 2005, he had to resign from the post as he was indicted for corrupt practices. Three years later, he resumed his position as Minister of Labour.

• In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Ashok Chavan became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra as Vilasrao Deshmukh resigned from office. In Ashok Chavan’s ministry, Malik continued to serve as the head of the Ministry of Labour until 6 November 2009.

• The 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections resulted in the formation of a coalition government of Congress and NCP with Ashok Chavan (of Congress) as the chief minister. In the Second Ashok Chavan ministry, Malik wasn’t appointed as a Cabinet Minister.

• After the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, a coalition government called Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was formed by the alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP, INC, with the support of the Samajwadi Party, PWPI, Prahar Janshakti Party, and several other political parties including Independent MLAs. In the MVA government, Malik served as the head of the ‘Ministry of Minority Development and Aukaf’ and the ‘Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship’ from 30 December 2019 to 27 March 2022.

• As a guardian minister, he was allocated two districts, Parbhani and Gondia, where he oversaw the implementation of government policies from 9 January 2020 to 27 March 2022.

• After his arrest in the Money Laundering Case of 1999, NCP decided to keep Nawab Malik as a minister but took away his portfolios.