Tragic loss: Baba Siddique killed before nomination to Legislative Council | Mumbai News

Mumbai: NCP politician murdered Baba Siddique had been in the “zone of scrutiny” for appointment to the Legislative Council as a candidate from the governor’s quota. A senior NCP official said Advocate General Birendra Saraf had made this clear Mahayuti The leadership said it can proceed with the appointment of experts to the council as there is no HC stay in nomination of experts to the council. As per the agreement in Mahayuti, out of the twelve vacancies, six were to be filled by the BJP and three each by Shiv Sena NCP. Ajit Pawar was of the view that regional representation was needed and that the NCP should consider appointing a member of the Muslim community. Accordingly, it was decided to nominate Siddique from Mumbai, Pankaj Bhujbal from Nashik and Sanjay Khodke from Vidarbha. But before NCP could finalize its list, Siddique was shot dead. The Mahayuti list was later reduced to seven, all of whom took their oath on Tuesday. According to reports, when Siddique quit the Congress in February and joined the NCP, he was assured of a Rajya Sabha seat. But that proposal was dropped and he was subsequently assured of a nomination to the council. –Prafulla Marpakwar