The shocking mafia-style hit job of a powerful ruling party neta in Mumbai revived concerns over the law and order situation in the Maximum City ahead of assembly polls in Maharashtra. For almost five decades, Baba Siddique remained a prominent member of the Congress and rose to become its Muslim face before switching to the NCP after the opportunistic Ajit Pawar split the party.
The three-term legislator and former minister was a master in political survival till he ran out of luck, as he managed a Congress ticket for son Zeeshan from the Bandra East assembly constituency and got him elected, giving him the convenience of sailing on two boats. His legendary iftar parties drew Hindi cinema’s A-listers and helped the famous Khans—Salman and Shah Rukh—break ice over a decade ago.
For reasons the investigators are yet to fully establish, Salman’s enemy possibly became Siddique’s as well, as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang angle is being probed in the supari hit. Bishnoi, who is in a Gujarat jail, terrorised Salman for allegedly poaching blackbucks in Rajasthan in 1998. Three hired guns of the gang pumped bullets into Siddiqui as he was getting into his car outside Zeeshan’s office in Bandra. That he was bumped off despite his Y-plus security cover showed the impunity of the gang. Early reports suggested the murder was tied to some controversy over slum redevelopment projects in Zeeshan’s constituency.
The killing came at the worst time for the ruling alliance in the state as it is struggling to deal with perception issues—from the legitimacy of the coalition arrangement to governance and beyond. Vertical splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP to snatch power in alliance with the BJP raised questions of ethics that will be decided at the hustings in a few weeks. Besides, their seat-sharing deal is far from sorted. Just a few months ago, the opposition gave them a bloody nose in the Lok Sabha elections.
Since managing law and order is part of the home portfolio held by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he is directly under the line of fire. Another NCP leader was stabbed in Mumbai recently. Ironically, the bloodletting happened on the Vijayadashami day, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil, while the reverse happened in Bandra. Justice must be rendered quickly to restore people’s faith in the rule of law.