Bengaluru: The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka on Wednesday suffered another blow following the resignation of Shivajinagar Congress MLA R Roshan Baig.
"Today I have submitted my resignation from the Karnataka Assembly to the Speaker," Baig told reporters at Vidhana Soudha after coming out of the office of Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.
The suspended Congress MLA made it clear he would not fly to Mumbai or Delhi, unlike the other disgruntled MLAs who have camped in a Mumbai hotel. "I am not going to Mumbai or Delhi. Being the chairman of the State Hajj committee, I am going to the airport to oversee arrangements for the Hajj pilgrims," Baig said.
To a question as to whether his party colleagues spoke to him, Baig said, "They said 'hello' to me. That's it."
The MLA was suspended from Congress for his alleged anti-party activities as he had rebelled against the party leaders.
A minister in the previous Congress government, Baig had held the party functionaries, specifically former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao responsible for the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Baig has recently been accused by IMA group founder, Mohammad Mansoor Khan, who is absconding, of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it.
Baig has categorically rejected the charge, saying the issue surfaced because of his fallout with some of his political adversaries.
Commenting on Baig's resignation, Siddaramaiah said his resignation was also anti-party.
"His resignation is also against the party. I appeal to all those who have resigned to come back and not fall prey to BJP's designs," Siddaramaiah told reporters while staging a demonstration near the Mahatma Gandhi statue against the BJP's alleged attempts to destabilise the coalition government.
Siddaramaiah also said his party would seek the disqualification of rebel MLAs who have resigned. The former chief minister also asked the 10 party MLAs who had resigned to come back or face the consequences.
Talking to reporters after a CLP meet to manage the crisis following the resignation of Congress-JDS MLAs, Siddaramaiah said the dissident MLAs should also be barred from contesting elections for six years. The resignations were not voluntary and genuine, he claimed.
All the MLAs who attended the CLP meet have reiterated their loyalty to the party, he said. Besides the MLAs, a couple of other legislators had also not attended the meeting but the latter had obtained permission, he added.
The BJP has been destabilising elected governments in Karnataka and other states in an anti-democratic manner, he charged. "Ever since the coalition government took over in the state, the BJP is trying to destabilise it… This is their sixth attempt," the former chief minister alleged.
Siddaramaiah said the Congress would petition the Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, seeking disqualification of MLAs who have tendered their resignation.
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