Zeeshan Siddique, Sana Malik among 7 candidates in NCP’s second list

NCP names Zeeshan Siddique and Sana Malik as candidates for Vandre East and Anushakti Nagar, respectively, in alliance with BJP for upcoming elections.

Mumbai: The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has named Zeeshan Siddique, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique, as its candidate for the Vandre East constituency, while senior party leader Nawab Malik’s daughter Sana Malik has been named as the candidate for Anushakti Nagar. The seat is currently represented by her father.

Zeeshan Siddique, Sana Malik among 7 candidates in NCP’s second list

Both Zeeshan Siddique and Sana Malik were named in NCP’s second list of seven candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, released on Friday. With this, the total number of candidates declared by NCP has reached 45. The party is contesting the polls as part of the Mahayuti, in alliance with the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and other smaller parties.

Prior to being declared a candidate, Siddiqui formally joined the NCP on Friday morning at the party office in the presence of Ajit Pawar. His first brush with elections was during the 2019 assembly polls, when he contested from the Vande East constituency as a Congress candidate and defeated the undivided Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar in a triangular fight by a margin of 5,790 votes. This time, as the NCP candidate, he will take on Varun Sardesai, nephew of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Zeeshan’s father Baba Siddique, who was seen as a prominent Muslim face in the Congress, left the party in February this year to join the NCP. Zeeshan too was expected to follow his father’s political trajectory. He faced accusations of cross-voting during the legislative council elections on July 12, while in August, he participated in the ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’ led by NCP president and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in the Vandre East constituency, indicating his future plans. The Congress subsequently expelled him for a period of six years on August 30.

“My father Baba Siddique ji always fought for the poor and weaker sections of the society and firmly believed in hard work and perseverance. As a father, it was his dream to see me win these elections after all the work we have done in Vandre East and now it is my duty to fulfill his dream and serve the people,” he said in a post on social media platform X after being declared as a candidate.

Expressing gratitude to the NCP leadership, he said, “I am grateful to Shri Ajit Dada Pawar for his unwavering support and for entrusting me with the responsibility to contest with the blessings of the people and my father’s guidance. I will seek the people’s mandate and work tirelessly to advance the cause my father dedicated his life to serving the people of Vandre East and beyond,” he remarked.

In the case of Sana Malik, her father Nawab Malik, who has twice represented Anushakti Nagar, wanted her to contest the polls from the constituency and had requested the party leadership for the same. Malik himself plans to contest from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency against Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi. He is expected to run as an independent candidate, as the NCP is under pressure from the BJP leadership to not field Malik as a Mahayuti candidate from the seat.

“I have been nominated from Anushakti Nagar. Since the people are with us, I do not see any trouble for me. Let them field anyone,” Sana said after being declared a candidate.

The NCP on Friday also inducted two former BJP MPs, Sanjaykaka Patil and Pratap Chikhalikar, into the party and declared them as cadidates for the upcoming polls. Patil has been nominated from the Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal assembly constituency in Sangli, where he will take on NCP (SP) candidate Rohit Patil, the son of former state home minister RR Patil. Chikhalikar has been nominated from the Loha assembly seat. Both Patil and Chikhalikar had lost the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, from Sangli and Nanded respectively.

Sunil Tingre, who was under severe criticism following allegations of interference in the Porsche crash incident in Pune that claimed two lives, also found place in the second list. He has been named as the candidate from the Vadgaon Sheri assembly constituency in Pune.