No BJP chief yet! State bigwigs to meet top brass

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With no signs of a candidate being named for Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly by the BJP high command, a delegation of state BJP leaders will meet Delhi leaders to prevail upon them to take necessary steps as they are being mocked by the ruling Congress Party.

For the first time in the history of the Karnataka Legislature, the Budget session was held without the Leader of the Opposition.

The BJP’s Delhi leaders who evinced keen interest till the campaign for the Assembly polls, seem to have lost interest after the party was ousted by the state electorate which gave them just 66 seats.

The chair reserved for the Opposition Leader is lying vacant for the last two months and all efforts made by state leaders to explain the importance of having a person for the post have not been taken seriously by the high command.

There is stiff competition for the post with former CM, Basavaraj Bommai, Vijayapura City MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, Karkala MLA K.Sunil Kumar, and Padmanabha Nagar MLA and former minister R.Ashok in the race.

Among the four, Bommai and Yatnal have locked horns, and it would be tough for the high command to pick anyone. Recently, former CM and the ‘new floor partner’, H.D. Kumaraswamy requested the BJP High Command to appoint anyone as the Opposition Leader as the delay had tarnished the party’s image badly.

But Delhi leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J.P.Nadda are busy in the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Delhi delegation will consist of former CMs, B.S.Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Yatnal, and Ashok.

With no opposition leader in the State, it has become difficult for the BJP to secure privileges which come with the post from the government such as special status, an office, and other facilities equivalent to that of the chief minister