Nawab Malik alleges withdrawal of Sharad Pawar's security,slams BJP's 'political vendetta'

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Friday alleged that the Centre had withdrawn the security cover of his party chief Sharad Pawar. Currently holding charge as the Minority Affairs Minister in Maharashtra, Malik claimed that the security personnel deployed at Pawar’s bungalow in the national capital had stopped coming from January 20 without any intimation. Dubbing this as an example of BJP’s vendetta politics, he pledged that the NCP would continue to politically oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. As per reports, Pawar is entitled to ‘Z plus’ security in Maharashtra and ‘Y’ category security in Delhi.  

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Relationship between Sharad Pawar and BJP 

The NCP supremo and the BJP leadership have shared a very intriguing relationship since 2014. After the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP formed the government as its arch-rival NCP extended unconditional support. However, the relationship did not last as Shiv Sena joined the government a few weeks later. 

Moreover, the PM attended programmes in Pawar's hometown of Baramati. While there was considerable speculation about Pawar emerging as the consensus candidate for the President's post, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour in 2017. But the relations reportedly deteriorated to an unprecedented extent when the NCP chief received summons from the Enforcement Directorate in the run-up to the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. 

Even then, Pawar made it clear that he would not bow before the Centre. Furthermore, he claimed that the PM sought his party's support for government formation in Maharashtra. The purported change in the security arrangements of Pawar comes at a juncture when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has decided to initiate a probe into the alleged phone tapping pursued by the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP regime. 

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