In a political move that has stirred the Maharashtra election scene, Zeeshan Siddique, son of the late Baba Siddiqui, a former Maharashtra minister and three-time Congress MLA, officially joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday. His decision comes just days before the state heads to the polls for the upcoming Assembly elections.Siddique, 32, was expelled from the Congress in August after cross-voting in a legislative council election. Having won the Vandre (East) seat in 2019 under the Congress banner, he will now contest the same seat representing his new party, the NCP. His primary rival in this race will be Varun Sardesai, the nephew of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who represents the Shiv Sena faction allied with the Congress and Sharad Pawars NCP in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.Siddique speaks out after joining NCPIn his first statement after joining the NCP, Siddique expressed his frustration with the MVA, accusing the alliance of abandoning him after his fathers assassination. This is an emotional day for me and my family. I am grateful to Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare for their trust and support during these difficult times, he said.Siddique, who has officially secured the NCP nomination for Vandre (East), remains confident of his chances in the upcoming election. With the love and support of the people, I am sure I will win Vandre (East) once again, he told reporters.Rift with CongressSiddiques departure from the Congress became more evident on Thursday when the MVA announced another candidate for Vandre (East). In a sharp post on X (formerly Twitter), he criticized the Congress for their lack of support, writing, “Old friends have announced their candidates. Supporting others was never in their nature.”The Vandre (East) seat is part of the MVAs seat-sharing arrangement for the November 20 election, with the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawars NCP, and the Congress sharing 85 seats, leaving 33 for smaller parties.
