Baba Siddique’s murder sparks political storm

New Delhi/Mumbai: The murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai kicked off a political storm, with the opposition parties, including the Congress, on Sunday alleging “complete collapse” of law and order in Maharashtra where Assembly polls are due next month.

The BJP and the NCP, the ruling parties in the state, asserted that those involved in the killing of Siddique will not be spared, and slammed the Opposition for indulging in “petty politics” on the crime.

Sixty-six-year-old Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister who joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in February this year after quitting the Congress, was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office and shot dead on Saturday night.

Police have arrested two of the alleged assailants, identified as Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), while third accused is on the run.

The Congress on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into Siddique’s murder and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds home portfolio, should take moral responsibility for law and order “failure” and resign.

Such killings show that the law-and-order situation in the state has failed, the opposition party said, claiming that the government was trying to postpone the election dates somehow through these incidents.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi said the Maharashtra government must take responsibility and order a thorough and transparent investigation.

“The tragic demise of Baba Siddique ji is shocking and saddening. My thoughts are with his family in this difficult time. This horrifying incident exposes the complete collapse of law and order in Maharashtra. The government must take responsibility, and justice must prevail,” Gandhi said on X.

“Justice must be ensured, and the present Maharashtra Govt must order a thorough and transparent investigation. The culprits must be brought to book at the earliest. Accountability is paramount,” Kharge posted on the social media platform.

Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar has targeted the state government, saying there is a need to take responsibility over the incident and for the rulers to step down.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal claimed that people across the country are “scared” by the killing Siddique, and gangsters have created an almost similar atmosphere in Delhi.

“The incident of killing of an NCP leader in public in Mumbai has scared the people not only in Maharshtra but the whole country. They have created an almost similar atmosphere in Delhi.

They want to bring Gangster Raj in entire country. Public will now have to stand up to them,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav expressed shock at the murder of Siddique, asserting that the incident exposed the “crumbling” law and order situation in Maharashtra.