The Karnataka Congress on Tuesday suspended senior legislator from Bengaluru R Roshan Baig for anti-party activities, a party official said.
A statement by Congress General Secretary VY Ghorpade said that the All India Congress Committee had approved the proposal sent by KPCC to take action against Roshan Baig.
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“Baig has been suspended with immediate effect on the basis of an enquiry conducted on the matter,” the statement further read.
Baig, a former Congress minister, is an eight-time legislator from the Shivajinagar Assembly segment in the city centre.
Earlier in May, the Karnataka Congress had sent a notice to MLA Roshan Baig over his statements on AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and former CM Siddaramaiah.
After the exit polls predicted a debacle for the UPA and a majority of Karnataka seats going to the BJP, Baig triggered a massive row saying that the portfolios in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government were “sold” and minorities were ignored.
When asked if the Congress should have thought before giving portfolios in the state, Baig said, “Portfolios were sold. How can I blame Kumaraswamy for it? He wasn’t allowed to function. From day one, Siddaramaiah has been saying ‘I’m going to be CM’. You have gone to their doorstep to form govt!”
He further went a step ahead to abuse AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Siddaramaiah.
On being asked if Siddaramaiah is responsible for the collapse of the government, he said, “KC Venugopal is a buffoon. I feel sorry for my leader Rahul Gandhi ji. Buffoons like Venugopal, the arrogant attitude of Siddaramaiah and the flop show of Gundu Rao…The result is this.”
Alleging that the minorities were ignored in Karnataka, Baig said, “No seats were given to Christians and only one seat was given to Muslims in Karnataka, they were ignored. I’m upset with this, we have been used.”
The comments had left the state Congress leaders red-faced.
Baig has been sulking against the party leadership since a year for being denied a cabinet post despite being the Muslim face of the party after the death of veteran party leader Jaffer Shariff in November last year.
