BENGALURU: With the notification for the posts of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council likely to be issued in a day or two, there are brisk political developments in the BJP, which has a majority in the Upper House and can clinch both posts.
Interim chairman and two-time MLC Raghunath Rao Malkapure has emerged frontrunner for the Chairman’s post. Since he hails from the backward Kuruba community, it is likely to send a message that the party is with them. Since community member and former RDPR minister K S Eshwarappa is out of the cabinet and expansion is not likely to happen soon, Malkapure is a serious contender for the post. He was also in the running for a cabinet berth, a source informed.
But former JDS MLC Basavaraj Horatti, who won Karnataka Northwest Teachers’ seat for a record eighth time, switched to the BJP from the JDS in May 2022, as he was assured the post of Chairman. If BJP sticks to its promise, the 76-year-old Lingayat leader is likely to get the Chairman’s post, especially as CM Basavaraj Bommai is in his favour. In that case, Malkapure will be chosen deputy chairman, in place of former deputy chairman M K Pranesh, a Vokkaliga. The BJP legislature party meeting, scheduled for Tuesday evening, is likely to take a final call.