Karnataka Congress takes a dig at BJP as party delays decision on Opposition leader

Congress on Monday took a dig at BJP for not naming its leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly, even as the Siddaramaiah government has convened the legislature session beginning next Monday.

BJP, with 66 MLAs, is the principal Opposition party, but has not said anything publicly about who it will name as the Opposition leader. It was initially speculated that former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai would be the obvious choice, but the delay of over a month since Congress won the assembly elections indicates that the central BJP leadership may have other ideas.

"There is not a single soul in BJP who is worthy of becoming the leader of Opposition," Congress taunted its rival in a tweet.


BJP has gone quiet after its recent electoral setback in the state and has postponed decisions on BJP state unit president as well. Nalinkumar Kateel's term as BJP state president ended long ago, but the party continued with him, not wanting to change him during the assembly polls.

BJP, according to sources, is planning to have a Lingayat and a Vokkaliga member occupy these two posts as Lok Sabha polls are due next year. Though there are senior MLAs in the party who can effectively take on the Congress government, they belong to different communities, sources said.