Former Congress leader Zeeshan Siddique has slammed the party after the Maha Vikas Aghadi named a candidate from Mumbai's Vandre East seat, which he won in the 2019 state polls. The 34-year-old leader has said "old friends" have announced their candidate from the seat and added that "supporting was never in their nature".
The Congress expelled the 32-year-old leader earlier this year after he was accused of cross-voting during the Maharashtra legislative council election. Mr Siddique had denied the charge. The young leader is the son of NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Sidiqqui, who was shot dead earlier this month.
"I heard old friends have announced their candidates from Vandre East. Supporting was never in their nature," he said in a post on X. "Maintain relations with those who give respect, no point in surrounding yourself with a crowd, now the people will decide."
In the 2019 polls, Zeeshan Siddiqui defeated the Shiv Sena's Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, former Mayor of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to win Vandre East.
The Vandre East seat has gone to Congress ally Shiv Sena (UBT) as part of seat-sharing within the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has named Varun Sardesai as its candidate. Varun Sardesai is the nephew of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
On the other hand, the Vandre East seat has gone to NCP's Ajit Pawar faction as part of seat-sharing within the BJP-led Mahayuti bloc. While the NCP is yet to announce its candidate, it is likely to field Zeeshan Siddiqui to benefit from the sympathy wave in the aftermath of his father's murder.
Baba Siddiqui, 66, was shot dead outside Zeeshan Siddique's office in Bandra on October 12. A total of 14 people have been arrested and police are probing different angles, including contract killing and business rivalry, to establish what was behind the murder. A former Maharashtra minister, Baba Siddiqui was Congress MLA from Vandre from 1999-2009. After the seat was dissolved and bifurcated, he represented Vandre West from 2009-14. Earlier this year, he quit the Congress and joined the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP.
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