BENGALURU: After being denied a BJP ticket and with just a few days left for the nominations, former minister R Roshan Baig on Saturday realised he has no chance of contesting this time, and instead proposed that his son, Ruman Baig either contest as an independent or as a JDS candidate.
Baig held a meeting with his supporters at his Bharathinagar residence on Saturday, and took this decision.
Baig said: “I do not want to contest elections. I want my son to contest from Shivajinagar. We tried from BJP. The BJP had promised two tickets to Muslims — one from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and another from Shivajinagar. To decide on how to make Ruman contest elections as an independent or as a JDS candidate, a meeting was held with supporters.”
He said that since he shares a good rapport with former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and former prime minister and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda, he has approached them about a ticket for his son. “My son is young. It will be good if he contests elections. In a day or two, a clear picture would emerge, and a decision will be taken,” he said.
Shakeel Usmani, a supporter of Baig, said they were disappointed as BJP did not give him a ticket. “Baig is a mass leader and senses the pulse of Shivajinagar. We wanted him to contest from BJP as he shared a good equation with former CM Yediyurappa, Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan and others. He told us he was not interested in contesting. So, we were expecting a ticket for Ruman Baig. We will back him,” said Usmani.