Baba Siddique murder: Ajit Pawar’s NCP holds Fadnavis responsible, echoes Oppn claim of law and order collapse
Maharashtra Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar says the Government should put up banners saying,‘Citizens should protect themselves, we can’t protect you’.
The NCP spokesperson said the murder was a big blow to his party. (PTI Photo)
After its prominent leader Baba Siddique was murdered, the NCP led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday held the home department headed by his cabinet colleague Devendra Fadnavis responsible for the “dangerous security situation prevalent in Maharashtra”.
“This is the second murder of an NCP leader in Maharashtra. Baba Siddique was a top leader. About 15 days ago, he received a threat call. After that he had sought police protection. But he was not provided security, which led to his death,” NCP chief spokesperson Amol Mitkari said.
Baba Siddique was shot dead by three people outside his MLA son’s office in Mumbai on Saturday evening.
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The NCP spokesperson said the murder was a big blow to his party. “Similarly, the murder highlights the dangerous security situation prevalent in Mumbai. We can understand if such a thing happened to an ordinary man… But that a former minister was killed shows the failure of the state home department,” Mitkari said.
“If the Mumbai police had taken the threat to Baba Siddique’s life seriously, this murder would not have taken place. Our national president Ajit Pawar has lost a close confidant. Baba Siddique was close to Salman Khan’s and Shah Rukh Khan’s families. Salman Khan had also received a threat from the Bishnoi gang, which the police are probing,” he added.
After meeting Siddique’s family, Ajit Pawar said, “The NCP has been devastated by the tragic loss of Shri Baba Siddique, a leader deeply loved by many. Personally, I have lost a dear friend whom I have known for years. We are heartbroken, struggling to understand the cruelty of this incident. This is not just a political loss—it’s a deeply personal tragedy that has shaken us all.”
The deputy chief minister added, “I strongly urge everyone to resist the temptation to politicise this horrifying event. This is not a time for division or for exploiting the pain of others for political advantage. Right now, our focus must be on ensuring that justice is served. We will not rest until those responsible are brought to account.
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“But in this moment, I ask that we pause, that we honour the immense grief of Baba Siddique’s family, who have suffered the greatest loss. Let us show respect and compassion rather than allowing opportunistic voices to turn this tragedy into a political spectacle. This is a time for unity, for mourning, and for remembering a leader who was deeply cherished by so many.”
Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said, “The murder highlights the pathetic law and order situation in Maharashtra. The Government has a duty to protect the citizens. Besides putting up banners of its welfare schemes, the Government should also put up banners saying, ‘Citizens should protect themselves, we can’t protect you’.”
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi too has said the law and order situation in Maharashtra has collapsed. “The state government should accept responsibility and ensure justice,” he wrote on X.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar also attacked Fadnavis over Siddique’s murder.
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“The law and order situation in Maharashtra has collapsed. In the nation’s financial capital, a leader is shot dead. This is worrying…If Fadnavis and the state government are running the government in such a soft manner, then this is an alarming situation for common citizens. The government should accept responsibility and step down,” Pawar said.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
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