Baig's outburst to give new direction to Ktaka politics: Gowda

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda Tuesday said Karnataka Congress legislator R Roshan Baig's outburst against his party leadership will give a "new direction" to the state politics.

BJP will welcome all who share the saffron party's ideology, he said when asked if the party would welcome if Baig wants to switch over.

On Monday, Baig had hit out at the Congress leaders for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls as projected in the exit polls a day ago.

The MLA had held former chief minister Siddaramaiah's "arrogance" and party state president Dinesh Gundu Rao's "immaturity" responsible for the "flop show". He had also called K C Venugopal, who is in charge of the party affairs in the state, a "buffoon".

"You cannot hide truth and true incidents. It will be in public sooner than later. Probably, Roshan Baig was keeping it to himself. He was forced to speak out looking at the current situation. I welcome," Gowda told reporters here.

He further said, "Baig is thinking that State Food and civil supplies minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has taken over his position, for which Siddaramaih is responsible. It will give a new direction to Karnataka politics."
Asked whether BJP will welcome Baig if he expresses interest in joining the saffron party, he said, "We welcome all those who believe in our ideology. We don't have enmity."