Bandra East: a contest between Baba Siddique’s son vs Thackeray family’s nephew Premium

NCP's Zeeshan Siddique vs. Shiv Sena's Varun Sardesai in Bandra East sets up intriguing contest in Maharashtra elections.

In poll-bound Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has fielded sitting MLA Zeeshan Siddique from Mumbai’s Bandra East against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Varun Sardesai. This move sets up an intriguing contest, raising the question whether the NCP can secure a win with a former Congress leader or if the Shiv Sena (UBT) can take the seat with its debutant candidate.

For 32-year-old Mr. Siddique, this poll will mark his first election without his father, former Minister Baba Siddique, who was killed on October 12. For 31-year-old Mr. Sardesai, a cousin of former Minister Aaditya Thackeray, it will be an opportunity to move from the realm of university elections to State elections and, possibly, lay the foundation stone of his political career.

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A suburb in western Mumbai, Bandra East is known for its high-end business hub — the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), government housing colonies and slums. Over the years, Bandra was identified as a Congress stronghold. Out of ten elections until 2008, the Congress won eight times.

Bandra East was established as a separate Assembly segment following delimitation in 2008. Since then, the Shiv Sena held control over it until 2014. In 2019, Mr. Siddique (then with the Congress) won the seat by a margin of 5,790 votes against the (undivided) Shiv Sena contestant Vishwanath Mahadeshwar.

However, Mr. Siddique was suspended from the party for alleged cross-voting in the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council election. He then joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Mr. Siddique had dismissed the allegations of cross-voting, saying, “How I can vote nine times to ensure the defeat of MVA MLC candidates?”

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Siddique said, “I was a newbie during my first term, but now I have learnt a lot of things after serving people for five years. I will definitely win with a huge margin as the people of Bandra have seen me working on their issues of housing and water, and during the pandemic. In the process, my family had to sacrifice a lot.”