Congress expels MLAs Zeeshan Siddique and Jitesh Antapurkar

Mumbai: Weeks after the instance of cross-voting during the legislative council elections was revealed, the state Congress on Friday declared the expulsion of their two MLAs – Zeeshan Siddique and Jitesh Antapurkar ahead of the assembly polls.
“Jitesh Antapurkar and Zeeshan Siddique have been expelled from the Congress party. It is unworthy to talk about the people who are not part of the party,” said state Congress president Nana Patole.
For Antapurkar, a first-term MLA from Deglur assembly seat in Nanded district, the action came a day after he resigned as a legislator and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday evening in the presence of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrashekar Bawankule and Ashok Chavan.
Meanwhile, Siddique, elected from Bandra East, said he has not received any official communication from the party. “I have no idea about any such decision as I have not received any communication from the party. For me I am still with Congress,” said Siddique.
“If they are accusing me of cross voting then they should also come out with the name they had asked me to vote for during the council polls,” Siddique said, challenging the party decision.
The decision of both MLAs was expected. Antapurkar is close to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who defected to BJP before the Lok Sabha elections. It was expected that he would follow Chavan to the BJP.
Zeeshan’s father, Baba Siddique, had joined Ajit Pawar-led NCP in February. Recently, he shared the platform with Pawar when a programme was held in his constituency during the latter’s Jan Sanman Yatra.
Further, Zeeshan accused leaders of not inviting him to any meeting or program of Congress. “Two days before the ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’, the Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad carried out a ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in my constituency, but I was not invited,” he said, adding that “This is just one example.”
Both the MLAs were among those accused of cross-voting and five others against whom the party has yet to take any action. The election was held on July 12 for which the MVA coalition had fielded only three candidates. Of them, only two could win. The Congress party identified seven MLAs who violated the party’s whip and voted for candidates from the ruling parties. The embarrassed Congress wanted to expel them all to send a message among the rank and file but changed the decision as it was a secret ballot and proving a cross-voting by a few was not possible, Congress insiders said.
The Congress leadership has already indicated that they will not give candidature to the MLAs who cross-voted in the legislative council elections.