Bengaluru, July 9 (IANS) Suspended Karnataka Congress legislator R. Roshan Baig has resigned from the Shivajinagar Assembly seat in Bengaluru Central, an official said on Tuesday.
"Baig submitted his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar in his office," the official told IANS here.
With Baig, the number of party lawmakers who have resigned from their respective Assembly seats has gone up to 12, including 11 rebels.
In the 225-member Assembly, including one nominated, the Congress has 78 members, excluding the Speaker.
If the Speaker accepts all the dozen resignations, the party's strength in the Assembly will reduce to 66.
Baig, 67, an eight-time lawmaker from this tech hub, was suspended from the party on June 19 for his alleged anti-party activities.
Baig was a minister in the previous two Congress governments (2013-18) and 1999-2004 and the erstwhile Janata Dal-United (JD-U) government in 1994-1999.
Upset by Baig's open criticism of the state Congress leadership, the state unit on May 21 served a notice on him, seeking explanation for his attack on the party's state in-charge K.C. Venugopal, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah and the state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao for the party's rout in the recent Lok Sabha electons.
Of the 21 seats the Congress contested in a pre-poll alliance with its coalition ally Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), it won only one, while the JD-S too managed to win only one seat.
The opposition BJP, however, won 25 of the 27 seats in the southern state.
Commenting the day after on the May 19 exit polls that projected Congress performing poorly in the general elections, Baig lashed out at Venugopal, Siddaramaiah and Rao.
"Venugopal is a buffoon. What does he know about the party in our state, as he is from Kerala? Due to Siddaramaiah's arrogance, the party lost in the May 2018 Assembly elections and Rao's immaturity is responsible for the dismal state of affairs currently," Baig had told reporters here.
He has been sulking against the party leadership since last year for being denied a cabinet post, despite being the Muslim face of the party after the passing away of veteran party leader Jaffer Shariff in November.
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