Days after leaving the Congress, Baba Siddique, a well-known figure in Bollywood and a former Maharashtra minister, joined Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday. Baba Siddique, 48, declared on February 8 that he was going to break off his relationship with the Congress. Although Baba Siddique’s intention to join the Ajit Pawar-led NCP was well known, no statement was made prior to the official event on February 10. The Election Commission’s recognition of Ajit Pawar’s NCP as the legitimate NCP was a key step for the BJP in the impending Lok Sabha election. Last year, Ajit Pawar broke away from Sharad Pawar’s NCP to join the Sena (Eknath Shinde)-BJP (Devendra Fadnavis) government.
I joined the Indian National Congress party as a young teenager and it has been a significant journey lasting 48 years. Today I resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress Party @INCIndia with immediate effect. There’s a lot I would have liked to express…
— Baba Siddique (@BabaSiddique) February 8, 2024
“I joined the Indian National Congress party as a young teenager and it has been a significant journey lasting 48 years. Today I resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress Party @INCIndia with immediate effect. There’s a lot I would have liked to express but as they say some things are better left unsaid. I thank everyone who has been a part of this journey,” Baba Siddique posted on X.
The resignation of Baba Siddique from the Congress was the party’s second major setback before the election, as former Union minister Milind Deora also left the party to join Eknath Shinde’s Sena faction due to issues with seat sharing between the Congress and the Uddhav Sena.
The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP), Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Shiv Sena, and the Congress will compete in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha election as members of the INDIA bloc.
Baba Siddique served as a municipal corporator for two years (1992–1997) and as a minister of state for labor, food and civil supplies, and the FDA from 2004 to 2008. In addition, he was an MLA for three terms in a row (1999, 2004 and 2009). In addition, he has held positions on the parliamentary board of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and as senior vice president and chair of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee.