Mumbai: Amid reports that the Baba Siddique and his son Zeeshan Siddique are heading to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, the veteran politician asserted that as of now he is with the Congress, however, he refused to comment on what future holds for him.
Baba Siddique (65), a former three-time MLA winning the Vandre West seat in 1999, 2004 and 2009 , and had also served as a Minister of State for Food & Civil Supplies, Labour and FDA and Consumer Protection in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government. Before becoming a legislator, Baba Siddique had been twice Corporator in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.
Zeeshan (31), a first-time MLA, represents Vandre East and is the president of Mumbai Youth Congress.
If the Siddique father-son duo leave Congress, it would be a major blow to the Congress in Mumbai after the departure of Milind Deora, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena last month.
The father-son duo are a big face in the Mumbai Congress.
Recently, Baba Siddique met Ajit Pawar.
Asked about the meeting, he said: “Ajit dada is a very workaholic person. At times we thought it was our poor luck that he was not a leader of our party... As of now, I am very much in Congress. No one can say anything about future. As of now I am with the Congress. I think I will stay in Congress.”
The Congress was founded in Bombay, now Mumbai, however, over the years, its base in the financial capital of the country has eroded. The Congress does not have any MP in the six Lok Sabha seats and just four legislators in the 36 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the city.
There was no official reaction from the Congress or the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
(Published 02 February 2024, 15:21 IST)
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