The Congress has removed lawmaker Zeeshan Siddique as the chief of its youth wing in Mumbai amid speculation about his defection. The action followed Siddique’s absence from two party meetings days after his father Baba Siddiqui defected to Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV said Akhilesh Yadav will replace Zeeshan Siddique as the unit’s Mumbai chief. He named Sufiyan Mohsin Haider as the working president of the Youth Congress.
Yadav was earlier secretary of the Youth Congress. “He was in charge of Madhya Pradesh but was not active in the city [Mumbai] unit. The appointment has taken many by surprise. It is believed to be an attempt to woo north Indian voters,” said a Mumbai Congress leader. Haider is the son of former Congress corporator Mohsin Haider.
Zeeshan Siddique, who is likely to switch sides ahead of the state assembly polls later this year, on X said he was disappointed over his removal without official intimation, underling he was elected to the post by a record number of votes.
The Congress has hinted similar action against other lawmakers likely to change sides. “There were about 10 lawmakers who skipped the party meetings last week, but many of them have given valid reasons. So the party leadership is taking a cautious stand before initiating any action,” said a second party leader.
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan defected from the Congress and was nominated as Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha candidate this month. Over a dozen more Congress leaders and lawmakers were expected to defect ahead of the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls. They were likely to either join the BJP or the state’s two other ruling parties Ajit Pawar-led NCP or chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
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