Barely a month before his son Zeeshan could contest for a second term in the Maharashtra state legislative assembly, Baba Siddiqui was fatally shot in Bandra. The killing brought an end to this career spanning more than three decades during which Siddiqui garnered attention with his proximity to Bollywood actors. Starting his career as a corporator from Bandra in 1992 as a Congressman, Siddiqui was elected as an MLA for three terms between 1995 and 2009. A well- recognised face from Bandra West, he served as a minister of state for food and civil supplies and labour in the Vilasrao Deshmukh government between 2004 and 2008.
But beyond his role in public life, he grew into a real estate mogul and developed numerous properties across Bandra. As a corporator and then an MLA, he is believed to have taken keen financial interest in every big budget building that came up in the tony neighbourhood. His constituency houses swanky areas of Pali Hill, Bandstand and Carter Road which see some of the highest property prices in the city. His political career was marred by a raid of his properties by the Enforcement Directorate and his opponents often spoke, in hushed whispers, about his connections with the underworld.
Siddiqui was flamboyant and revelled in the company of film actors. Apart from being the MLA, he was best known for his star-studded Iftar parties at a Bandra five-star hotel and made headlines when he brokered a truce between two superstars, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan during one such party. A regular face at Bandra soirees, he won.
His son Zeeshan is comparatively low profile as an MLA from Bandra East but made his beginnings in public life by sponsoring football and cricket tournaments in Bandra West. Zeeshan’s sister, Arshiya, briefly entered politics but returned to his medical career. In August this year, Zeeshan was expelled from the Congress for cross voting during the legislative council polls and a few months before the elections, he quit the Congress to join the Aji Pawar-led NCP. His father Baba Siddiqui had joined Ajit Pawar earlier this year. The father-son’s move to the NCP came after they realised that according to the seat sharing arrangement of the MVA, the Bandra East constituency would go into the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s kitty considering that the Thackeray family lives in the area.
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