Assam Congress targets Maha govt over Baba Siddique’s killing

Assam Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia on Sunday targeted the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra over the killing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader and former minister Baba Siddique.

The Congress leader alleged that there might be some political conspiracy behind the killing days before Maharashtra goes to polls.

Saikia told reporters here that Baba Siddique was a senior leader of the ruling alliance, adding that he was provided with a ‘Y’ category security cover.

“Despite all the security arrangements, he was shot dead by miscreants on the streets of Mumbai. This showed the inefficiency of the ruling government of the state which is led by the BJP. If the BJP-led coalition government fails to provide security to a senior leader, just think about the situation of the general public in Maharashtra,” said Assam LoP.

He also called for a detailed investigation into the whole incident.

“The timing of the killing of Siddique is very crucial. Maharashtra is heading to elections within a few days and at this juncture if a former minister gets killed, it signals towards a greater political conspiracy. There should be a thorough investigation into the whole incident,” Saikia added.

Siddique who was an NCP leader was shot dead in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

The NCP leader was shot two or three times by three or four individuals outside the office of his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui, which is located close to Colgate Ground in Nirmal Nagar, Bandra (East). He was brought right away to Lilavati Hospital, where he passed away not long after.

Siddique was given "Y" level security after receiving a death threat only fifteen days prior.

Originally from Bihar, Baba Siddique joined the Congress party when he was just a teenager. He started his political career as a student leader of the Congress party’s students’ wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).

He was elected as an MLA in Maharashtra Assembly consecutively thrice between 1999 and 2014. Siddique was also made Minister of State for Food & Civil Supplies, Labor etc.

In February this year, he switched sides and joined Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.

Zeeshan, Siddique's son, represented Mumbai's Bandra (East) assembly constituency as a Congress MLA before being expelled from the party in August for alleged anti-party activities.