Bengaluru: The Karnataka Congress suspended its senior legislator from Bengaluru R. Roshan Baig for anti-party activities, a party official said late Tuesday.
“Baig has been suspended with immediate effect for his anti-party activities,” said state Congress General Secretary V.Y. Ghorpade in a statement here.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has approved Baig’s suspension on the recommendation of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to take action against him on the basis of an enquiry into his activities.
Baig, a former Congress minister, is an eight-time legislator from the Shivajinagar Assembly segment in the city centre. Baig has been in the news of late for wrong reasons, including his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Ponzi scheme, operated by IMA Jewels owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who fled the country on June 8.
In a purported video clip posted in the social media, Khan accused Baig of blackmailing him for asking to return about Rs 400 crore he claimed to have given the latter for contesting in the recent Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore Central seat though he did not get the ticket.
Upset by Baig’s open criticism of the party’s state leadership, KPCC on May 21 served notice to him, seeking explanation for his attack on AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah for the rout the party faced in the parliamentary elections.
Venugopal is also in-charge of the party’s state unit affairs. Commenting on the May 19 exit polls on May 20, that projected Congress performing poorly in the general elections, Baig lashed out at Venugopal, Siddaramaiah and party’s state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao.
“Venugopal is a buffoon. What he knows about the party in our state as he is from Kerala? Due to Siddaramaiah’s arrogance, the party lost in the May 2018 Assembly elections and Rao’s immaturity is responsible for the dismal state of affairs currently,” Baig told reporters at his residence here.
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.