Baba Siddique, a prominent leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and former Maharashtra minister, was tragically shot dead on Saturday evening outside his son’s office in Bandra East. Siddique was targeted by three assailants, who opened fire on him near the Colgate ground in Nirmal Nagar. He was swiftly transported to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde confirmed Siddique’s death later that night and reported that two of the three suspects had been apprehended, while the third remains at large. “Mumbai police chief informed me that two individuals have been arrested—one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Haryana. The third assailant is still absconding, but the police are actively working to capture him,” Shinde stated.
Baba Siddique had recently joined the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, after resigning from the Congress party earlier this year. He served as a three-time MLA from the Bandra West assembly constituency but lost his seat to BJP candidate Ashish Shelar in the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections. Additionally, he was a Municipal Corporator for two consecutive terms from 1992 to 1997.
During the Congress-NCP government in the early 2000s, Siddique held various ministerial positions, including Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies, Labour, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Consumer Protection.
His political journey began as a teenager with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Indian National Congress. He was first elected as a Municipal Corporator in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and became an MLA in 1999, later securing re-election from the Bandra West seat in 2004 and 2009.
