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Not much is known about the Muslim face of the BSP, who is also National General-Secretary of the party and president of the youth wing.
Naseemuddin Siddiqui originally belongs to Syora village of Narayani tehsil of Banda district. His father Qamruddin was a small farmer.
Naseemuddin excelled in sports playing Volleyball at the national Level. In the beginning worked as a Railway contractor.
He entered politics in 1988 by fighting for the post of Chairmanship of Banda Municipal Corporation as an independent and lost. Later that year, Naseemuddin joined BSP and has remained loyal to the party and its leader in thick and thin. Twice he contested elections as BSP candidates for UP assembly; winning in 1991 but losing to his BJP rival in 1993 with less than a thousand votes.
Since 1995 he became a close aid of Mayawati, when she became the first time UP chief minister. This is the fourth time that he has become a cabinet minister. First time March 1997 to September 1997, second time from September 1997 to October 1999 and the third time from May 2002 to August 2003.
As Environment minister, he was involved in the Taj Heritage Corridor project approval. As a result, along with Mayawati he was accused in the Taj Heritage Corridor corruption scandal. He has been involved in another corruption case known as Unnao land scam, and in fact was in prison for several months under that case.
In Banda, he has a clean image and hugely popular. People find him approachable and easily accessible for their problems. In the last UP assembly he was member of the upper house and used his MLC fund to build permanent boundary walls of all Muslim graveyards of Banda. Encroachment of graveyards has become a source of communal tension in recent years and by finding all the graveyards and enclosing them he has done a work that is appreciated by all.
Banda which falls in Bundelkhand region is known for scarcity of water. Naseemuddin Siddiqui has used his MLC fund to install handpumps all over Banda improving daily lives of Dalits and Muslims.
He has grown to be a close associate of the BSP chief and one of the most trusted and considered part of the inner circle of Mayawati. In this election he was responsible for selecting Muslim candidates. He was given a helicopter by BSP to canvass across the state and judging by the results he has delivered the Muslim votes for the BSP.