A video clip surfaces; Yeddyurappa demands unconditional public apology

The Bharatiya Janata Party is up in arms against Urban Development Minister and Congress leader R. Roshan Baig for his alleged expletives against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and they have demanded his immediate ouster from the Ministry.

The surfacing of a video clip in which Mr. Baig has allegedly made the derogatory reference has only added grist to the mill of the already heated political discourse in the State ahead of the Assembly elections.

BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa led the counter-attack against Mr. Baig by demanding an unconditional public apology from him. BJP leaders plan to file a police complaint against the Minister in Bengaluru on Saturday, and are set to stage a protest. The video clip also contains alleged derogatory reference to Mr. Yeddyurappa.

Describing Mr. Baig’s remarks as “nasty and derogatory”, Mr. Yeddyurappa said it was an insult not only to the Prime Minister, but the entire country.

In a release here, Mr. Yeddyurappa referred to an old episode where Mr. Baig was dropped from the Ministry after his brother was arrested in connection with the fake stamp paper scam.

“The Chief Minister must not allow him to continue in the Cabinet even for a moment,” Mr. Yeddyurappa said.

Saying Mr. Baig made the remarks on demonetisation, Mr. Yeddyurappa said: “He must be having a lot of difficulty after the demonetisation, and this is how he has expressed his pain at a public meeting.”

KPCC’s reaction

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president, Dinesh Gundu Rao said he was not aware of the remarks made by Mr. Baig and he would seek clarification from him. “If he has made such derogatory remarks, then it does not augur well for a Minister. One should not use such language either for a common man or for the Prime Minister.”