Rajya Sabha polls: Nawab Malik, Anil Deshmukh seek 1-day bail to cast vote

Nawab Malik. File Pic

Maharashtra ministers Nawab Malik, and Anil Deshmukh, who are currently in jail following arrest in a money-laundering case, have approached a special court in Mumbai seeking bail for one day to cast vote in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. From Maharashtra, six Rajya Sabha seats are up for grabs.

A special court in Mumbai, designated to hear cases related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its affidavit to both the applications (Malik and Deshmukh) and posted them for further hearing on June 8. The polls are scheduled to take place on June 10.

Malik was arrested by the ED on February 23 n connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. The NCP leader in his application sought to be released on bail for a day on June 10. Malik in his plea claimed that he is an elected MLA and hence, is duty-bound to represent the residents of his constituency in electing a representative to the Rajya Sabha, and is also desirous to cast his vote in the aforesaid biennial elections.

While the two NCP MLAS - Deshmukh and Malik- are currently in jail, one seat is lying vacant. Apart from the four main parties Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress and BJP, the Assembly has 25 MLAs from smaller parties and Independents. The effective election quota per candidate is 42. The BJP, which has 106 members in the House, has nominated Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik.

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Sharad Pawar's NCP has re-nominated former Union minister Praful Patel, while the Congress has fielded Imran Pratapgarhi. Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar are nominees of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. The electoral contest for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat lies between BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik and Sena's Sanjay Pawar.

With inputs from PTI