Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh denied one-day bail to vote in Rajya Sabha polls

The requests of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh for a day’s release to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday were denied by a special court on Thursday. Senior NCP leaders Deshmukh and Malik are both in jail right now because of different money laundering cases that are being looked into by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Last Monday, the two submitted applications with special judge R N Rokade for temporary bail.

The judge denied Malik and Deshmukh temporary release on Thursday after hearing long arguments from across all parties.

The ED had objected to their petitions, claiming that under the Representation of the People Act, convicts do not have voting rights.

Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in November 2021 in a money laundering case.

Malik was arrested by the ED on February 23 this year in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

In the Rajya Sabha polls to six seats from Maharashtra, every vote is crucial for the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which the NCP is a constituent, to get the Sena’s second candidate- Sanjay Pawar- elected.

After more than two decades, the state will witness a contest in the Rajya Sabha polls as there are seven candidates in the fray for the six seats.

The ruling Shiv Sena has fielded two candidates, its MVA allies NCP and Congress have nominated one candidate each, while the opposition BJP has put up three candidates.

The contest lies between BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Pawar.

(with PTI inputs)