BENGALURU: It is expected the House will be adjourned ‘sine die’ on Friday, and the session will go down in history as one which concluded without an official Leader of Opposition (LoP).
In fact, the BJP is set to enter record books as a party without an official ‘Leader of Opposition’. “Considering the leader of the opposition is like a watchdog, it is this person’s job to point out the ills and lapses of the government. Without an opposition leader, there is no one to check government actions,’’ a senior officer in Vidhana Soudha explained.
Even in the session in May, when MLAs were sworn in, the BJP had managed without an Opposition leader. The position is a mandatory requirement, as laid out in the Constitution. The fact that the central leadership has not been able to appoint a leader to the post, shows that all is not well in the BJP, explained a source.
It is clear that former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai is not the obvious choice, which was evident in the assembly over the past few weeks when the BJP appeared leaderless and disorganised. Bommai’s stature has been reduced to insignificance, so much so he was given a violent push by a marshal when the BJP protested on Wednesday, and could have sustained injuries.
Former BJP chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who had also served as Opposition leader, said, “I am surprised they have not appointed an Opposition leader yet. This shows the party is still beset with problems, which led to the mishandling of elections.’’ The party, which is busy with assembly polls due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, also has to gear up for Lok Sabha elections in just over eight months. A leaderless party could face more issues in such a situation.
BJP insiders say proper leadership on the ground is essential, and the central leaders cannot remotely control the state unit from Delhi without appointing a leader and fighting the LS polls where 28 seats are at stake may not be a smooth affair, as it was in 2019 when the party bagged 25 seats.
‘Congress legislators have history of bad behaviour’
Hitting out at the Congress, BJP Karnataka said MLAs of the Grand Old Party have a “history of behaving like hooligans” in the House. In a series of tweets, the BJP Karnataka handle shared clippings of earlier Legislative sessions showing Congress legislators misbehaving in both Houses. They also pointed out that Congress MLCs had pushed former Council chairman late Dharmegowda from his seat. A couple of days later, he died by suicide. “There is a gruesome history in Karnataka where the Chairman himself was victimised by Congress MLCs’ hooligan behaviour in the House,” a tweet said.
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They also shared clippings of Siddaramiah, who was the LoP in 2010, opening the doors of the House forcibly. They alleged that the suspension of MLAs and the massacre of democracy are qualities in the Congress’ DNA.