Roshan Baig speaking out of "thirst for power," says Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, May 22: Rebuking senior MLA Roshan Baig for his outburst against the party leadership, including him, Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Wednesday said his act was out of "thirst for power".
"Roshan Baig I don't know...maybe because he did not become Minister and as he was not given ticket for MP (Lok Sabha election- he has spoken like that)," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said, "Because of his thirst for power, such things happen, nothing can be done. The party will take care of it."
Hitting out at Congress leaders for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls as projected in the exit polls, Baig Tuesday held Siddaramaiah's "arrogance" and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao's "immaturity" responsible for the "flop show".
He had also called Venugopal, who is AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, a "buffoon."
Baig,who was also a Minister in the previous Siddaramaiah government, had also slammed the former Chief Minister for "dividing" Hindu society by attempting to give separate religion tag to Lingayat community and "abusing" the Vokkaliga community during his tenure in the top post.
The attack by Baig,who was miffed over not being inducted into the H D Kumaraswamy led coalition ministry, and being denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore Central, came after the exit polls predicted a rout for the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka and NDA's return to power at the Centre.
The KPCC has issued a show cause notice to Baig for his conduct.
Meanwhile, Congress' Bangalore Central candidate Rizwan Arshad, in a letter to the AICC General Secretary, has alleged that Baig worked against him and the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
Baig had a "tacit" understanding with BJP and RSS, he has alleged.
Responding to a question about repeated attacks on him by his bete noire and JD(S) state President A H Vishwanath, Siddaramaiah said he would take up the issue at the coalition coordination committee meeting.
"Vishwanath is not from our party, he is from JD(S).I will discuss about what Vishwanath has spoken in the coordination committee meeting. I will not talk about it publicly," he said.
Vishwanath, who was earlier in the Congress, on Tuesday had welcomed Baig's outburst against the party leadership, saying his remarks were "true" and "a reality."
Last week, with the clamour growing within Congress for Siddaramaiah to become CM once again, Vishwanath had hit out at the CLP leader, raising questions about his performance as Chief Minister in the previous government, and had termed the demand as "chamchagiri" (sycophancy).
His statements had resulted in a public spat between the two, with Siddaramaiah hitting back and asking the JD(S) leadership to intervene.
On Saturday too, Vishwanath had raised questions about Siddaramaiah's performance as coordination committee chief andhit out at him for not inducting him and Rao to the committee.
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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.
