Kick-starting a controversy, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Monday, 1 November, shared photographs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta Fadnavis with an alleged drug peddler, fuelling conjecture of a link between the two parties.
"One Jaideep Rana currently in jail in connection with a drug trafficking case has relations with former CM Devendra Fadnavis. He was financial head of famous River song by former CM's wife Amrita Fadnavis. Drugs business in the state grew under his tenure," Malik was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Sharing a picture of Fadnavis's wife Amruta Fadnavis with Rana, who had been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in June 2021 and is presently in jail, Malik said:
"Come, let's talk about the relations between BJP and drug peddlers today."
"I have released a photo of a person named Jaideep Rana in Twitter. This person is in Delhi's Sabarmati Jail. He has been arrested in the case of drug trafficking. Amrita Fadnavis composed a river song... Devendra Fadnavis also acted in this song. But its producer was Jaideep Rana. Rana and Devendra Fadnavis have a close relationship," Malik told reporters on Monday.
"The drug racket in Mumbai and Goa was happening under the umbrella of Devendra Fadnavis. What is the connection of Devendra Fadnavis with the drug business, it should be revealed," he demanded.
Further alleging that Fadnavis has connections with Neeraj Gunde, the Nationalist Congress Party leader said, "I demand that there should be a judicial inquiry into all these facts or a CBI inquiry should be conducted on it."
Recently, Malik had pioneered another controversy, after he accused NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of forgery. Wankhede had been heading the investigation of the drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan.
'We Know How To Answer Brick With Stone': Devendra Fadnavis Defends Himself Against the Allegations
"The photo that Nawab Malik has tweeted, the Usar River March organization has clarified that they had hired this person for the video. Apart from this, this person has nothing to do with finance. These are all the photos taken out when River Song was shot. Not only with my wife, there are photos of the whole unit with me too. But Nawab Malik only intentionally tweeted the photo with my wife. This gives an understanding of their mindset. This is a four year old photo," Fadnavis told reporters.
"Can't make any allegations against me, so my wife is being targeted. My house is not made of glass, so I have no fear. We know how to answer brick with stone," Fadnavis was quoted as saying.
"Ganja was caught at the house of the son-in-law of Nawab Malik, who has accused me of running a drug racket. Does this mean the entire NCP party becomes the kingpin of drug trafficking? I will soon bring to the fore what is the relation of Nawab Malik to the underworld with the evidence. I will also hand over the proof to Sharad Pawar."Devendra Fadnavis
"Nawab Malik has lit a sparkler (phooljhadi) before Diwali, but after Diwali, I will burst the bomb. He has started it, I will take it to the end," he added, saying that he would expose the minister's relations to the underworld after the festival.
The BJP leader further admitted that he did have a relationship with Neeraj Gunde, and said that there was no case against Gunde. He observed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had relations with Gunde as well.
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