Karnataka: Congress suspends former minister Roshan Baig for anti-party act
Bengaluru: Unable to stomach his relentless attacks on the party leadership and his alleged links with the IMA investor scam, the Congress party on Tuesday placed former minister and Shivajinagar MLA R. Roshan Baig under suspension for anti-party activity.
In a statement, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary V.Y. Ghorpade, said that the AICC has approved the proposal of the KPCC to suspend Mr Baig.
A day before the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections, Baig had criticized AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka K.C.Venugopal describing him a buffoon. He had also lashed out at Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah blaming him for finishing off the party in Karnataka and had dubbed KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao a flopshow president.
He had dropped hints at quitting the party, and appealed to Muslims to “compromise” with the situation, on the BJP led NDA returning to power.
Even though the party state unit had recommended disciplinary action against Mr Baig, the high command seemed reluctant to take action till now as it might send a wrong signal to the minority community in the state of which Mr Baig is a prominent leader.
However, the last straw came when the name of Baig was linked with the IMA investor scam by none other than Revenue Minister R.V. Deshpande who claimed Baig had accompanied the main accused Mansoor Khan when he approached him (Deshpande) for a loan.
This seems to have come in handy for Gundurao and Siddaramaiah who have been at the receiving end of Baig’s attacks and they reportedly took up Baig's alleged links with the scam, with the party leadership.
Sources said that on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah and Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan who has been critical of Baig, pursued the matter relentlessly with the party leadership and persuaded Venugopal to take action against him. Attempts to reach Baig for his comments on the suspension proved futile as his phone was switched off.
