NCP to temporarily give Nawab Malik's portfolios to other cabinet ministers

"With the financial year concluding on March 31 and Malik still in judicial custody, decisions regarding the handover of power need to be concluded before March 31, in the purview of which the meeting was held," informed Jayant Patil.

Mumbai:Followed by his arrest in the money laundering case, state's Minority Development Minister Nawab Malik's responsibilities will be handed over to other ministers, but he would not officially file his resignation, said NCP state president Jayant Patil. Patil was speaking after an NCP meeting held at the residence of NCP President Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Thursday evening.

The meeting, chaired by Sharad Pawar, was also attended by several senior NCP leaders including state president Jayant Patil, home minister Dilip Walse-Patil, finance minister Ajit Pawar, minister Dhananjay Munde, minister Jitendra Awhad, MP Supriya Sule, minister Chhagan Bhujbal and senior NCP leader Praful Patel. "With the financial year concluding on March 31 and Malik still in judicial custody, decisions regarding the handover of power need to be concluded before March 31, in the purview of which the meeting was held," informed Jayant Patil.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Malik in connection with a land acquisition case in Kurla on February 23, followed by which his resignation was speculated. He is currently serving as the Guardian Minister of Gondia and Parbhani districts in Maharashtra, in addition to being the Cabinet Minister for Skill Development and Minorities.

The meeting concluded that minister Dhananjay Munde will take over Malik's responsibility as guardian minister of Parbhani district, while minister Prajakt Tanpure will be assigned the Gondia district. Sources also confirmed that the additional responsibility of the Skills Development Ministry will be given to health minister Rajesh Tope and that of the Minorities Department will be given to minister Jitendra Awhad.

The concluded proposal is now to be sent to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for approval, after which the responsibility of the concerned ministries will be shifted to other ministers. The meeting also reportedly concluded that Nawab Malik will remain in the state government as a non-accountable minister, while his resignation is nowhere in the party's roadmap to deal with this hurdle.

Patil also took a chance to take a dig at BJP minister Devendra Fadnavis, who, Patil said, 'will perform the responsibility of a good opposition leader', further adding that the Mahavikas Aghadi government intends to remain in the state till 2024. This was a subtle taunt in response to Fadnavis' claim of BJP being likely of coming to power in the state in the near future.