Bengaluru: If the informal talks between former Union minister and BJP leader, M.J. Akbar and Congress MLA, R. Roshan Baig, held over a cup of tea in the city four days back, reach the logical end, then Mr Baig may leave the Congress party and join the BJP.
Mr Baig has been severely critical of AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, K.C. Venugopal, Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader, Siddaramaiah and KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao blaming them for the shoddy performance of the party in the Lok Sabha polls.
Highly placed sources in the BJP said that even though the BJP wanted to offer a MLC post to Mr Baig, considering his experience and stature in the community, the party may consider the option of accommodating him in the Rajya Sabha besides offering some post at the national level.
If these proposals which has to be approved by the party central leadership, come through then Mr Baig may say goodbye to the Congress. However, Mr Baig has been consistently maintaining that he is a loyal soldier of the Congress party and has no plans to quit the party. Even while criticizing other Congress leaders, he had showered praise on AICC president Rahul Gandhi.
Meanwhile, responding to reports of dissidence and Mr Baig turning rebel, Congress Legislature party leader, Siddarmaiah termed the coalition government as a "rock solid government" which none can topple. He said after the CLP meeting, "Where is the dissident activity in our party? 72 of the 79 MLAs have attended and four had informed me about their absence. Ramalinga Reddy is on a foreign tour, ministers, Satish Jarkiholi, Rajashekhar Patil (Humnabad) and Subba Reddy are busy with the local body elections in their constituencies. So they have not attended the meeting."
In response to a question, Mr Siddarmaiah conceded that Mr Roshan Baig and dissident Gokak MLA Mr Ramesh Jarkiholi have neither attended the meeting nor informed him. "Yes, they have not turned up," he said.
