Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique has officially joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after quitting Congress. Siddique, who had been associated with Congress for almost five decades, joined NCP in the presence of party chief and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Saturday in Mumbai. This development comes after the Election Commission of India recognized the Ajit Pawar faction as the legitimate NCP. Siddique did not provide any specific reason for his decision to leave Congress, but he mentioned that there were many things he would have liked to express. He expressed gratitude to everyone who had been a part of his journey with the party. Siddique is a prominent minority face of the Mumbai Congress and had previously served as a minister during the Congress-NCP coalition government. He is well-known for his grand ‘Iftar’ parties attended by top Bollywood stars. His son, Zeeshan Siddique, is currently a Congress MLA from Bandra (East) in Mumbai. The politician had garnered praise for arranging essential medicines for needy patients during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak.