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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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
