The former Congress leader came out all guns blazing against his old party after the latter declared a candidate for the Vandre East seat in Mumbai that he had won in the 2019 state elections. “Old friends declare their candidate, underlining supporting was never in their nature, said the 34-year-old politician.
The Congress party expelled Siddique earlier this year, over allegations of cross-voting during the Maharashtra legislative council election, a charge he has consistently denied. Siddique, son of NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Baba Siddiqui, is going through a tough time following his father’s assassination in the first week of this month.
In a post on X, Siddique said, “I hear old friends have declared their candidates from Vandre East. Supporting was never in their nature. Keep relations with those who respect you; standing in the crowd is no use. Now, the people will decide.”
In the 2019 elections, Siddique outpunched Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, former Mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to emerge as a winner in the Vandre East constituency.
Under the seat-sharing formula within the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, the Vandre East seat has been allotted to Congress ally Shiv Sena-UBT, which has nominated Varun Sardesai, nephew of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The Ajit Pawar faction within the NCP will also announce its candidate for the seat on the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. There is speculation that Siddique could be the NCP candidate to cash in on the sympathy wave generated by his father’s tragic killing.
Baba Siddiqui, 66, was gunned down outside Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra on October 12. Fourteen people have been arrested so far in connection with the case as police probe different angles – including contract killing and business rivalry.
The former Maharashtra minister was the Congress MLA from Vandre from 1999 to 2009 and Vandre West from 2009 to 2014 after the seat was restructured. Earlier this year, he quit Congress to join Ajit Pawar’s faction of NCP.
