Maharashtra Elections: Ajit Pawar's NCP Fields Baba Siddique's Son Zeeshan Against Aaditya Thackeray's Cousin

The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) released its second list of seven candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections on Friday morning.

Former Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique, who was recently expelled from his party, joined the NCP the same morning and will contest from the Bandra East seat in Mumbai.

He will face Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Varun Sardesai, a cousin of Aaditya Thackeray. Just two weeks ago, Zeeshan faced a personal tragedy when his father, former minister Baba Siddique, was killed by gangsters outside his office.

This event fueled speculation on his political future, as Zeeshan had previously appeared with Ajit Pawar at a rally, signaling his shift towards the NCP, though he hadn’t officially joined until now.

After the Shiv Sena (UBT) declared Sardesai as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate from Bandra East, Zeeshan expressed his displeasure on social media, suggesting that his longstanding alliance with the party had changed.

Nawab Malik is expected to stand as an Independent in Shivaji Nagar-Mankhurd, where he will contest against Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi for the assembly elections are scheduled for 20 November.

Additional candidates on the NCP list include former BJP MPs Sanjaykaka Patil (contesting from Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal) and Pratap Patil-Chikhalikar (from Loha).

Incumbent Sunil Tingre will seek re-election from Pune’s Vadgaon-Sheri constituency, a seat that had seen interest from the BJP’s former MLA Jagdish Mulik.

Other NCP nominations include Nishikant Patil for Islampur, where he faces NCP (SP) state leader Jayant Patil, and Dyaneshwar Katke for Shirur, where his opponent will be NCP (SP)’s Ashok Pawar.