6 months without K'taka Oppn leader: Saffron party MLAs see red

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Frustration has been growing among BJP MLAs as the party high command is yet to appoint a Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly and Council nearly six months after the elections were held.

The Assembly polls were held on May 10. Results were out on May 13, declaring a 135-seat victory for the Congress while the BJP finished as the principal Opposition with 66 seats.

JD(S) had secured 19 seats. Siddaramaiah was sworn in as chief minister on May 20 alongside DK Shivakumar as Deputy CM and a few other ministers.

Assembly Speaker UT Khader recently said that December 4 is the tentative date for the beginning of the winter session in Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.

According to some reports, some BJP MLAs are threatening to boycott the winter session if an LOP is not appointed, citing embarrassment at the hands of the ruling Congress on the floor of the House.

CM Siddaramaiah has resorted to vitriol and sarcasm to mock the BJP for essentially being headless. Before mediapersons, he lamented that it was unheard of in the political history of Karnataka that a Budget session was held without an LOP.

In the Assembly on the other hand, the CM derided BJP MLA from Vijayapura and LOP aspirant Basangouda Patil Yatnal for not having a ray of hope of landing the post.

The lawmakers are said to have expressed the intent to boycott the session during a BJP meeting chaired by former CM BS Yediyurappa, despite the latter not being an MLA.

He retired from electoral politics and his son BY Vijayendra contested and won from his Shikaripura seat in Shivamogga district back in May. However, Yediyurappa remains important given his image as a Lingayat mass leader and his rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At a press conference this past Friday, Yediyurappa admitted there was a delay in appointing an LOP.

“There has been a delay in the appointment of the Opposition leader. I have requested them (the high command) to do it at the earliest. I will do all that I can to put pressure on them to make the appointment at the earliest before the (winter) session,” he said.

No outstanding contenders?

It is to be noted that the BJP central leadership has rebuffed former CM Basavaraj Bommai for the LOP’s post. They also don’t favour Padmanabha Nagar MLA R Ashoka. Yatnal on the other hand is seen as a maverick.

This leaves contenders like ex-minister CN Ashwath Narayan and rookie MLA BY Vijayendra in what is being termed a “leadership crisis” by the Congress.

This doesn’t even take into account the appointment of an LOP in the Council.

New BJP state president awaited

Moreover, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel is yet to be replaced.

He was given a year-long extension in view of the Assembly polls after completing his three-year term.

Hindutva ideologue CT Ravi and former minister V Somanna are contenders but no decision has been forthcoming as the party weighs caste equations.