MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was shot dead in Mumbai, was a popular figure in Bollywood circles and had earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the Covid pandemic.
During the peak of the pandemic, the 66-year-old leader had arranged highly sought-after medicines for needy patients. He actively participated in the distribution of essential medicines not only in his home state of Maharashtra but also in his birthplace, Patna.
Siddique represented the Bandra (West) seat three times in the Maharashtra assembly. He had close ties with Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. His son, Zeeshan Siddique, is the current Congress MLA from Mumbai.
In February this year, Siddique quit the Congress and joined the NCP without citing specific reasons. He said, “Some things are better left unsaid.”
His move to the NCP was seen as a boost for the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, especially in Muslim-dominated areas in Mumbai.
With his joining the NCP, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP had received a boost ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
NCP leaders were banking on Siddique to be instrumental in spreading the party’s wings in Mumbai especially in the Muslim dominated wards for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
Joined Congress as a teenager in 1977
- Ziauddin Siddique, also known as Baba Siddique, 66, was corporator for two terms — from 1992 to 1997
- He joined the Congress as a teenager in 1977
- He was married to Shehzeen Siddique; the couple have two children —MLA Zeeshan and daughter Arshia Siddique
- As chairman of Mumbai Mhada, he regularly engaged in matters related to real estate and development of slum areas
- Siddique served as an MLA in 1999, 2004, and 2009.
- He was also a minister of state for food and civil supplies, labor, and FDA in the state government (2004-08) and a municipal corporator for two terms.
- He has also served as the chairperson and senior vice-president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee and parliamentary board member of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
B-town’s best host for Iftaar
Apart from his political endeavors, Baba Siddique was renowned for hosting grand Iftar parties at his residence in Bandra. These gatherings were the highlight of Ramzan, attracting numerous celebrities from the film industry. The parties were known for their lavish spread of food and beverages, which continued until the break of dawn.
Siddique’s events even managed to bring together feuding film stars, as exemplified by the reconciliation of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan during the 2013 Iftar party. The two superstars, who had been engaged in a cold war since a disagreement at a birthday party in 2008, embraced each other and resolved their differences at Siddique’s gathering.
Before joining the NCP, Siddique had said, “My journey was with Indira Gandhi-Rajiv Gandhi-Sanjay Gandhi. The current Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is like my father. But sometimes some decisions have to be made in personal life.”
Baba Siddique was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Mumbai just outside his son’s office around 9.30 pm on Saturday and shot at. He was taken to Lilavati Hospital, where he was declared dead.