Some BJP legislators back HD Kumaraswamy for LOP post

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy might yet be appointed the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly as many BJP lawmakers favour him for the post.

The possibility is being considered by some saffron party MLAs and MLCs as pre-poll alliance talks are still underway between the two parties.

JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda had flown to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss a pre-poll alliance for next year’s Lok Sabha elections, a fact the former confirmed last week.

As per Gowda and BJP bigwig BS Yediyurappa, Kumaraswamy, Modii and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hammer out a seat sharing formula in the days to come.

Embarrassingly for the saffron party’s Karnataka leaders, the high command has been ignoring them ever since the drubbing they received in the Assembly polls in May at the hands of the Congress.

However, Modi is engaging with Kumaraswamy, prompting some BJP leaders to reach out to the JD(S) leader with some of them even lobbying for Lok Sabha tickets.

The leaders include former Health Minister K Sudhakar, former Shivamogga MLA KS Eshwarappa, son of Yediyurappa and Shikaripura MLA BY Vijayendra, Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna, former Horticulture Minister Munirathna Naidu and MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary.

The LOP post offering may further goodwill, they reckon.

Lobbying for Lok Sabha tickets

Sudhakar, who surprisingly lost to giant killer Pradeep Eshwar from Chikkaballapura in the Assembly polls, reportedly wants to contest in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Chikkaballapura is also a parliamentary constituency, inclusive of his former Assembly segment. The issue is the seat is represented by BJP MP BN Bache Gowda. However, there are rumours that many incumbents would be replaced by the high command in next year’s polls.

Eshwarappa on the other hand was forced to retire from electoral politics by the party’s central leadership but had lobbied for his son KE Kantesh to get the ticket from his Shivamogga constituency.

Instead, his protégé SN Channabasappa contested and won from the seat. Now, Eshwarappa wants his son to be given a BJP Lok Sabha ticket from Haveri, which is a seat currently occupied by saffron party MP Shivakumar Udasi.

Getting a ticket from Shivamogga is even more difficult since the constituency is represented by Yediyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra. The BJP leaders have tried to downplay recent visits and phone calls to Kumaraswamy, citing the latter’s health.

The JD(S) second-incommand had been hospitalised due to a stroke but has made a full recovery.

Party falling short of 10 per cent

J D(S) has 19 seats in the 224 member Assembly and requires at least 23 or 10 per cent of the seats in the House to be granted the LOP post.

It is not clear whether an alliance between the regional outfit and the BJP would enable Kumaraswamy to land the post.

Moreover, the saffron party is currently the single largest Opposition with 66 seats but their high command has neglected to appoint an LOP in both Houses.