Karnataka Congress issues show-cause notice to Roshan Baig over outbursts
Bengaluru, May 21: The Congress issued a show-cause notice to senior leader and Karnataka legislator R Roshan Baig on Tuesday for his outbursts against the party leadership.
The party has taken strong exception to Baig's comments against former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and party state president Dinesh Gundu Rao.
The remarks are being taken seriously as an "anti-party activity", the notice said, asking him to explain within a week why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
"On failing to reply further disciplinary action will be taken against you," the notice, signed by state Congress general secretary V Y Ghorpade, said.
On Monday, Baig had hit out at the Congress leaders for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls as projected in the exit polls a day ago. The MLA had held Siddaramaiah's "arrogance" and Rao's "immaturity" responsible for the "flop show". He had also called Venugopal, who is in charge of the party affairs in the state, a "buffoon".
"By making statements to media and causing discomfort to the party and expressing your displeasure publicly through the media, you have conducted yourself by going against the party's principles. Your conduct has dented party's prestige," it added.
As the exit polls gave a clear-cut edge to the National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha election, the senior Congress leader had dropped hints of quitting the party and appealed to the Muslims to "compromise" with the situation if the alliance returns to power.
Baig had earlier, too, expressed displeasure against the Congress leadership for not being included in the cabinet, headed by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
His outbursts has come at a time when another senior MLA, Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party, had threatened to quit the Congress along with other MLAs "soon".
Even the BJP has predicted that the ruling JDS-Congress coalition would collapse after the Lok Sabha polls. It had claimed that 20-odd Congress MLAs were unhappy with the government and might take any decision after the results on Thursday.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
