Siddaramaiah could be reason for my suspension, says Roshan Baig

Bengaluru: Suspended Congress MLA Roshan Baig on Wednesday claimed that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah could be the reason for his suspension from the party.

Alleging that he was being targeted by the state leadership for speaking the truth Baig questioned why the state Congress leadership was not accepting moral responsibility for the poll drubbing when Rahul Gandhi had offered to resign as the party president.

“I have the highest regard and respect for Rahul Gandhi. I never criticised him. I am a worker of Indian National Congress, not Siddu (Siddaramaiah) Congress. I had only spoken about the poor performance of the party,” he said.

He further questioned why the party did not initiate disciplinary action against those Congress leaders who worked against party interests during the Lok Sabha elections.

“Some of the Congress leaders openly defeated our dalit leader K H Muniyappa. Why no action was taken against them? Some of the Congress leaders openly supported Sumalatha. Why no one was suspended? This clearly shows that I am being targeted,” he claimed.

Responding to a question on his next course of action, Baig said that he would take a call after consulting senior leaders – Ramalinga Reddy, Muniyappa, (Mallikarjun) Kharge and H K Patil.

In a statement released on Tuesday KPCC said that Baig has been suspended from the party with immediate effect for anti-party activities.

It is gathered that Congress party office bearers had sought Baig’s dismissal from the primary membership over his alleged connection with IMA Ponzi scam’s main accused Mohammed Mansoor Khan.

Khan, who is the founder of the IMA Jewels, has accused Baig of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning the money. Baig, however, has refuted the allegation and termed it as a “total conspiracy.”