Baba Siddique’s murder points to law and order issue in Maharashtra: Tejashwi Yadav

Tejashwi Yadav with Baba Siddique during his Patna’s visit. File
| Photo Credit: Today News 24

The Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday raised questions over the law and order situation in Maharashtra while expressing shock over the killing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar fraction) leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai. Mr. Yadav said the incident proved law and order was crumbling in Maharashtra, where “people are not safe”.

Siddique’s ancestral home is in Bihar’s Gopalganj district. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad also hails from Gopalganj. Mr. Tejashwi Yadav stressed that he knew the late Siddique personally, and he and his father had met him several times, both in Bihar and Mumbai.

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Siddique was shot dead by three men outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra, Mumbai.

“It is a very sad incident, the way he was killed. Baba Siddique belongs to our district, Gopalganj. He was native of Bihar. A few days ago, when I went to Mumbai, I met him over there. It is really shocking. Mumbai is a big city and if the incident can happen in a locality like Bandra, it means no one is safe. The morale of the killers is high. The State government should look into this matter seriously,” Mr. Yadav said, speaking to reporters at Patna airport.

Mr. Yadav had posted a message on social media platform X on Saturday night, attacking the Maharashtra government. “The news of the murder of senior Maharashtra leader Baba Siddique is extremely sad. I pray to God to give the departed a high place in heaven and give patience and courage to the family. What name will you give to such criminal incidents that are continuously happening in Maharashtra under the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] rule?” Mr. Yadav said.

Siddique’s ancestral home is located at Sheikh Toli village under Manjha block of Gopalganj. In 2008, Siddique visited his ancestral village for the first time in 30 years. He founded a charitable trust in Bihar in the name of his father, Abdul Rahim Siddique. Children from underprivileged families were provided free coaching for competitive exams.

In a media statement, Siddique’s nephew Mohammad Gufran said the late political leader’s family had moved to Mumbai 50 years ago, and that his father had worked as a watch-maker in Mumbai. Mr. Gufran said Siddique’s father would always visit the village.

Bihar Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan also said law and order had completely failed in Maharashtra, and despite a perception of threat, Siddique had not been provided adequate security. Mr. Khan also praised the late Siddique for his philanthropic work.

“On August 20, 2024, I met him for the last time in Delhi. It is also a personal loss for me because we used to meet quite often, and during my Mumbai visits, I used to stay at his house. More than a leader and Bollywood personality, he was a philanthropist who did a lot of work. Even during the pandemic, he visited Bihar, distributed medicines, and made arrangements for thousands of people,” Mr. Khan, who travelled to Mumbai to attend the funeral, told Today News 24.