Among MLCs in the contest is former minister CT Ravi, said to be lobbying with the party high command.
Published Jul 20, 2024 | 7:07 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2024 | 12:49 PM
BJP MLCs CT Ravi, N Ravikumar and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy are frontrunners for the opposition leader post in the upper house. (supplied)
After Kota Srinivas Poojary was elected Member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat in the Lok Sabha polls, he resigned from the state legislative council, the upper house of the Karnataka legislature. He was the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the house, and filling that vacancy has become a contentious issue.
Among MLCs in the contest is former minister CT Ravi, said to be lobbying with the party high command. It is known that senior MLCs N Ravikumar, also the chief whip of the BJP, and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, are lobbying for this position too.
The party-wise break-up of the 75-member legislative council in Karnataka is as follows:
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising BJP and JD(S), enjoys the majority in the upper house. Congress will have to wait until 2026 for the majority in the House.
It was after a delay of six months that the BJP high command appointed the opposition leader in the legislative council on 25 December, 2023. Just six months later, the post is vacant again after the Lok Sabha polls.
A senior BJP leader and MLC told South First on condition of anonymity: “The party should have named the opposition leader in the ongoing session, but has not displayed any keenness at this point of time. There are factions backing each of the three contenders, and lobbying is intense.”
Caste equations, seniority and the image of the contenders will impact the final decision, the MLC said. Currently, the BJP state president is a Lingayat, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly is a Vokkaliga and Deputy LoP in the Assembly is a Lingayat. The BJP will have to balance out caste representation in the Council.
“CT Ravi belongs to the Vokkaliga community. Ravikumar is from the OBC (Other Backward Classes) and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy is from a Scheduled Caste. The OBC and SC communities have not been represented adequately in high office in the state,” the BJP MLC said, underlining that CT Ravi is likely to find favour with the high command, given his seniority and rapport with national-level leaders of the party. Ravi has served as national general secretary of the BJP, and is known for spearheading the cause Hindutva in coastal Karnataka.
Citing the lack of representation of Dalits, however, BJP MLC Narayanaswamy, who was Union minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the second term of the Modi government, said, “Lingayats have the post of president of the state unit of the party; the opposition leader in the state assembly comes from the Vokkaliga community; there are no major posts awarded to my community, either in the state or the Centre.”
“The BJP has reiterated that it is a party for Dalits. After all those assertions, if the high command does not consider a Dalit for this post, the Congress will go all out to brand the BJP anti-Dalit,” Narayanaswamy said, adding that he has expressed this opinion to the party high command, which has responded positively. Asked about the possible appointment of CT Ravi, Narayanaswamy responded: “CT Ravi is a first-time MLC, even though he served the party for over two decades. We demand proper representation of Dalits, but we will abide by the decision of the party high command.”
MLC N Ravikumar said, “CT Ravi, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and I are all in the race for the post of leader of opposition. The high command has not yet kick-started the appointment process.” He explained that a decision would be arrived at, based on recommendations from the state unit of the party.
He said he hoped an announcement would be made by the end of the session. “We were expecting that the central leadership would announce the name for the vacant post this week. We are hopeful about the announcement by the end of this session.” The 10-day monsoon session of the Karnataka legislature began on 15 July.
