BENGALURU: R Roshan Baig, eight-term MLA and one of the most prominent minority leaders in the state Congress, seems to have carefully chosen the time to hit out at the top leaders who are preparing to deal with the post-May 23 challenges to the party and the coalition government.
Those in the know of the developments say Baig has been simmering with anger since long as he felt sidelined by the party leaders, who promoted ‘newcomers.’
A formidable leader in his own capacity, Baig managed to win elections after elections from Shivajinagar, a Hindu majority constituency — and despite BJP’s consistent efforts to oust him.
In fact, in 2018 assembly polls, BJP’s election theme in the state capital was centered around Baig, KJ George and NA Haris, the three prominent minority faces in Bengaluru from Congress.
Baig, who visits temples, strongly opposes any attempts to brand him as ‘communal’. And when it comes to his constituency he maintains good rapport with leaders from across the political and ideological spectrum.
However, trouble for the 67-year-old leader — who won his first assembly election way back in 1985 and worked as minister in the Janata Party government headed by JH Patel — started around the time when Siddaramaiah took centre-stage of the Congress as well as state politics.
Citing allegations against his brother and his subsequent resignation from SM Krishna ministry, Baig was not inducted into the ministry till he managed to pull some strings at the high command level.
Siddaramaiah was ‘forced’ to induct him into the ministry. As leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjuna Kharge said on Tuesday that Baig has good contacts at the central leadership.
But Baig is known to be very touchy about criticism and about being sidelined. After Zameer Ahmed Khan, once a HD Kumaraswamy loyalist ditched the JDS and joined Congress, Baig was no longer given that prominence within the party.
Once his name was ‘shortlisted’ for the RS seat when Siddaramaiah was the CM, but that never happened.
After 2018, assembly elections, he was hoping for a berth in the coalition government, but Khan, a newcomer to the party was made the minister. Not just that, his request for the party ticket to contest from Bengaluru Central too was not considered on the grounds that he was a sitting MLA while Rizwan Arshad, an MLC was given the ticket.
That came as a big blow for a leader, who was looking forward to emerge as a strong minority face within Congress after former Union minister CK Jaffer Sharief. Although he has caused a major embarrassment for the party, it will not be easy for Congress to act against him.