BANGALORE: Congress MLC, Motamma (56) was, on Saturday, appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council.
Council Chairman Veerana Mathikatti, declared the appointment of Motamma as the floor leader for the Congress upon receipt of a recommendation letter signed by Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and Congress state president RV Deshpande.
She becomes the first woman to hold the post of the floor leader in the Council.
The Assembly had previously seen a woman at the post in C S Nagarathnamma (also of the Congress) during Ramakrishna Hedge’s government.
Starting from 1978, Motamma has represented the Mudigere Assembly segment thrice and has also served a term as member of All India Congress Working Committee.
She had also had a stint as Chairperson of the Malnad Development Board.
Her tenure as the Woman and Child Development Minister, saw the implementation of the Stree Shakti, a women’s economic empowerment programme in 2001.
TENURE TICKS
Motamma fills in the post that fell open after V S Ugrappa’s term as MLC ended on January 5. The All India Congress Committee had cleared her name, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President R V Deshpande said.
The Congress strength in the 75-member council is 19.
Its three nominated members Prakash Rathod, Mallajamma and Chandrashekar Kambar are due to retire on January 20. The latter development will give the 17-member JD(S) the edge as the Opposition.
The Congress maintained that Motamma will be leader now, and political developments of the day will decide things beyond January 20.