BENGALURU: The BJP, the principal opposition party in the Karnataka assembly, is yet to appoint a Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the council. While the party has appointed an opposition leader in the lower house, it does not have a LoP in the upper house, where the NDA enjoys a majority.
The position fell vacant after the previous LoP in the upper house, Srinivas Poojary, got elected to Parliament from Udupi-Chickmagalur. The BJP realised it needed a strong leader in the upper house and got former MLA CT Ravi, who was defeated from Chikkamagaluru, into the upper house. Until now, the party has not legitimized his position as leader.
This is precisely what the party did in the assembly, where it kept the LoP position vacant for seven months -- May to November -- and filled it up only in late November when Vokkaliga leader R Ashoka was appointed leader of the opposition. Experts argue that the lack of a leader makes it disadvantageous to the opposition party and weakens the democratic spirit.
The NDA enjoys a majority in the upper house. Though the Congress is the single largest party with 35 seats, the BJP with 29 seats, ally JDS with 8 seats, and an independent together comprise 38 seats. This mutual alliance was sealed by council chairman Basavaraj Horatti, who switched to the BJP from the JDS.
It has been five days since the House commenced and the BJP has not formally appointed a leader in the upper house. BJP sources claim there is a definite conspiracy in this, while Ravi said he would not like to comment. Ravi, who was a minister earlier, resigned to serve as national general secretary of the party, and will be a match for Congress leader BK Hariprasad, who too has served as general secretary for 16 terms.
Some say that Ravi’s caste could go against him: he is a Vokkaliga, while Ashoka, who is LoP in the lower house, is also a Vokkaliga, and this could lead to a demand for the post from other communities. Add to this, ally JDS leader in the upper house is Bhoje Gowda, a Vokkaliga from Chikkamagaluru, from where Ravi hails. While Ravi has unofficially led the charge against the Congress on these five days and embarrassed the ruling Congress, it remains to be seen if his services will be recognised.
