Mumbai, Aug 28 (IANS) The opposition Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have targeted Maharashtra Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Baba Siddique for being in company of convicted Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and demanded that he be dropped from the ministry.Siddique is a personal friend of the Dutt family.

T he Sena and BJP, in separate statements, raised the issue of Siddique's proximity to the 48-year-old actor, who had been sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment for illegal possession of arms in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam pointed out that while deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil has ordered a departmental probe against policemen who were seen shaking hands with Dutt after his release from Pune's Yeravada Jail, the government was protecting Siddique.

"When the government has been prompt in taking action against the cops, what action is it contemplating against Siddiqui who is always seen beside Dutt?" asked BJP legislator Madhu Chavan.

Siddique, however, maintained that Dutt was a family friend and there was nothing wrong in his act. "I have gone there (at Dutt's residence) as a friend, not as a minister," he said.