Will Govt Continue Action on Seized Properties of Praful Patel for Gangster Mirchi Link, Asks Uddhav

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday wondered whether the government will take action regarding the properties of NCP leader Praful Patel which were seized for alleged link with gangster Iqbal Mirchi.

Patel, a former confidant of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, is a member of the NCP camp led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Thackeray’s attack on Patel comes days after Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote an open letter to Ajit Pawar conveying his reservation about including former minister Nawab Malik in the ruling Maha Yuti’ alliance.

Malik, an NCP leader who had served as a minister in the MVA government, is an accused in a money laundering case and is currently out on bail on medical grounds.

“My question is whether the government will take action on the seized properties of Praful Patel in connection with underworld don Iqbal Mirchi,” Thackeray told reporters on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan here.

Patel was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in the past in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal assets of Mirchi, who was an aide of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Patel, who was with Sharad Pawar at that time, had claimed there wasn’t even a “single paisa worth property transaction”.

In an oblique reference to Fadnavis’ open letter to Ajit Pawar, Thackeray said he was surprised to see that “two colleagues who sat next to each other had to communicate through a letter”.

Malik recently caused a stir when he sat on a treasury bench seat during the ongoing winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took a dig at Thackeray, an MLC, for coming to attend the state legislature’s winter session four days after its commencement.

“This shows his (Thackeray’s) seriousness towards the issues of farmers,” he had said while speaking to reporters. When asked about Shinde’s remarks, Thackeray said, “CM Shinde is not serious about the issues of farmers which reflects in his work. I have seen a chief minister driving a tractor in the sea for the first time”.

Shinde recently drove a tractor at a beach in Mumbai during a cleanliness drive launched by the city municipal corporation. Queried on issues related to the Vidarbha region not being raised in the legislature, Thackeray asked reporters to direct this question to Fadnavis, who hails from Nagpur.

“We are ready to discuss all issues and always willing to support what is in the best interest of the people of Vidarbha and Maharashtra,” he said. Notably, Shiv Sena has always opposed the creation of a separate state of Vidarbha by dividing Maharashtra.