The statement is being seen as indicating that the former minister will not join hands with the Ajit Pawar group which has joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government. The NCP was founded by Sharad Pawar.
Malik said that during the last 18 months, not only his family but he too had suffered a lot owing to a serious kidney ailment. “Now my top priority is to take care of health. I will take treatment from the best doctors in the city. I think that in the months to come, my condition will be normal,” he said.
Malik, who was in jail in a money laundering case, went home from hospital on Monday after he was released on medical bail. The Supreme Court had on Friday granted bail subject to conditions that were to be imposed by the trial court.
He thanked senior NCP leaders who had called on him after his release. “They were always helpful to me, they took care of my family, and their medical advice was quite important,” he said.
On Monday, after Malik was released, NCP working president Supriya Sule of the party founder’s group had called on him at his Kurla residence, while NCP working president of the Ajit Pawar group, Praful Patel, called on him on Tuesday.
Sule had said hers was a courtesy call to inquire about his health. “I have come here to inquire about the health of my elder brother, there is no politics in it. We were missing him for one-and-a-half years,” Sule said.
Praful Patel endorsed Sule’s views, saying he too visited Malik to inquire about his health. “At a juncture when Malik is undergoing treatment for a serious ailment, it will be wrong to discuss politics with him,” Patel said.
Patel said that there was no discussion on whether Nawab Malik would support the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP or would remain with the Sharad Pawar group. “There was no such discussion. Malik’s priority is to take care of his health. We will extend whatever help is possible,” Patel said.
