Karnataka Cong ‘patronised’ radical outfits, alleges former minister Roshan Baig

Team Udayavani, Aug 18, 2020, 9:32 AM IST

Bengaluru: Expelled Congress leader R Roshan Baig has alleged that the party in Karnataka had patronise “extreme radical” organisations for over a decade and that MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, targeted in recent mob fury here, was a victim of SDPI’s ‘violence’.

A former state minister, he also claimed the ‘tacit understanding’ was now backfiring on the Congress.

“The Karnataka Congress patronized extreme radical organizations like SDPI for over a decade and I had raised voice against this from day one,” he claimed in a statement posted on his Twitter handle.

His charge was dismissed by Charamarajpet Congress MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, who sought to turn the tables on him, hinting the former had an understanding with the SDPI and was trying to distance himself from the outfit now.

Baig, who has been expelled from Congress for ‘anti-party’ activities, claimed he had been requesting a ban on these organizations but to no avail.

His allegations come at a time when the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has come under the Police radar with the arrest of four of its members for alleged involvement in the August 11 violence at KG Halli and DJ Halli areas over a social media post by Murthy’s nephew. Baig, a former Shivaji Nagar MLA, also slammed the Congress for “not backing” its two MLAs Tanveer Sait and Murthy “even when they were direct victims of the SDPI’s violence”.

Sait was stabbed at a function in Mysuru a few months ago while Murthy’s house was reduced to ruins by the rioters on August 11.

Attacking Baig, Khan alleged the former was distancing himself from SDPI and targeting Congress because he might have sensed he may face the heat of police investigation (into the riot).

“Why did the SDPI contest the Shivaji Nagar assembly bypolls. It had never entered the fray whenever Baig was fighting the election? Baig should explain who had fielded SDPI to divide the minority votes and defeat the Congress,” he said.