Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Prakash Ambedkar questions whether Sharad Pawar met Dawood Ibrahim

Mumbai: In a serious charge, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder-President Prakash Ambedkar on Friday said that NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, when he was the Maharashtra Chief Minister, had met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Ambedkar said that referred to the period between 1988-91. 

According to him,  when Pawar was the Chief Minister and during that time he first went to London and then to California for a meeting. “He came back to London and then went to Dubai. He met Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai,” Ambedkar alleged and wanted to know if the Central government had sanctioned the meeting.

“I have not made any allegations but I have just put forth some facts,” he said. 

When contacted, NCP (SP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that Ambedkar has donned the costume of the BJP. “Ambedkar is trying to set a false narrative ahead of Vidhan Sabha polls on behalf of the BJP…after all he is the B-Team of the BJP,” Crasto told DH on Friday evening. “This is not something new. Every time an election comes, Ambedkar does that on behalf of BJP.” 

Ambedkar has further said that a Chief Minister cannot travel abroad without the sanction of the Centre. “Did the Central government allow him to attend the meeting in California then? If Pawar was given permission by the Central government at that time, then was he allowed to go to Dubai and meet Dawood Ibrahim? And were those meetings reported to the central government?,” he asked.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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