MUMBAI: Zeeshan Siddique, former NCP MLA who was defeated in the recently held state assembly elections, is likely to get rehabilitated. The NCP leadership is contemplating fielding him for the upcoming legislative council elections slated on March 27. His name was discussed in the core committee meeting of the party held on Wednesday evening.
Five MLCs resigned from their position, as they were elected as MLAs in the state assembly election held in November last year. They were the NCP’s Rajesh Vitekar, the Shiv Sena’s Amshya Padvi and the BJP’s Pravin Datke, Ramesh Karad and Gopichand Padalkar. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared a by-election for the five seats, and the last date for filing the nomination is March 17. Members of the assembly will vote to elect these five seats of the legislative council.
As a Mahayuti ally, the NCP will contest one seat, and Zeeshan is being considered for this, said NCP insiders. “Senior NCP leader and working national president Praful Patel is keen on Zeeshan,” confirmed a senior NCP leader. “Zeeshan’s father, Baba Siddique, was brought by Patel to the party with the promise that he would be made an MLC. That could not be done but now Zeeshan should be given an opportunity.”
However, a consensus on Zeeshan’s name is yet to be reached because party president Ajit Pawar and other leaders are not sure, he added. There is a view that since Vitekar is from Parbhani district, someone from Marathwada should be given the opportunity. Another view is that someone from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region should be considered, keeping in mind that the party needs to be strengthened in Mumbai, and someone who is active in the organisation should get the chance, NCP leaders said.
Zeeshan, who contested the elections as an NCP candidate, was defeated by the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Varun Sardesai from the Vandre East assembly constituency by over 11,000 votes. In 2019, he was the youngest MLA from the Congress to be elected. In the run-up to the assembly polls, he joined the NCP, following in the footsteps of his father.
The past few months have been difficult for Zeeshan, as he not only lost the polls but also his father. Siddique was gunned down near Zeeshan’s Bandra office on October 12. The killing took place at a time when the NCP was planning to appoint Baba as an MLC from the governor’s quota.
On January 6, the Mumbai police’s crime branch filed a charge sheet against 26 individuals arrested in connection with the murder, and identified three wanted suspects—Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Mohammed Yasin Akhtar and a Pune resident Shubham Lonkar. Police described the trio as key conspirators in the high-profile killing. Investigators also alleged that Anmol Bishnoi, the leader of an organised crime syndicate, orchestrated the murder “to establish supremacy in Mumbai”.
Zeeshan and his family have contested the police theory about Siddique’s assassination.