Several BJP MLCs were dismayed as the party high command did not elect the LoP for the Karnataka Legislative Council.
BJP appoints former DyCM and seven-time MLA R Ashok as the opposition leader for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Friday. (Supplied)
Amidst dissent in the cadre against newly appointed State President BY Vijayendra, the Karnataka unit of the BJP on Friday, 17 November, appointed former deputy chief minister and seven-time MLA R Ashok, who hails from the influential Vokkaliga community, as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Karnataka Assembly.
The appointment came even as senior leaders like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal publicly expressed dissent against BJP turning into a “one family party”.
Central observers — Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam — collected the opinions from selected senior MLAs in the legislature party meeting held at a private hotel in Bengaluru City.
They are also said to have considered caste equations before declaring R Ashok the LoP in the Assembly.
Meanwhile, BJP MLCs were dismayed as the party high command sought another four days for the appointment of the LoP for the Legislative Council. The party also did not collect any opinion from the MLCs.
The LoP for the Karnataka Assembly was appointed six months after the culmination of the elections to the House.
The BJP had been under severe pressure to appoint the LoP, especially ahead of the winter session of the Assembly, which is scheduled to begin on 4 December.
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ವಿಧಾನಸಭೆಯ ವಿರೋಧ ಪಕ್ಷದ ನಾಯಕರಾಗಿ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾದ ಮಾಜಿ ಉಪಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಆರ್.ಅಶೋಕ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು. @RAshokaBJP pic.twitter.com/rsvpT0Y6Pa
— B.S.Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) November 17, 2023
Former minister and BJP leader Araga Jnanendra told South First: “The party collected opinions from MLAs. R Ashok, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, and Sunil Kumar were in the race. The high command appointed senior Vokkaliga leader R Ashok as the LoP.”
Jnanendra added: “He is a capable leader for the post. He has been elected as an MLA for seven consecutive terms and also served in various posts of the government and the party. The party also considered caste and region while finalising the LoP. There is no dissent in the party.”
Extending wishes to Ashok, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra told reporters: “I and R Ashok will fight the corrupt Congress government in Karnataka. Our vision is to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by ensuring victory in all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.”
However, a senior MLC told South First on condition of anonymity: “The central observers collected the opinion from selected leaders. They did not collect the opinions of all the MLAs. The LoP was not elected but appointed by the high command.”
Hitting out at the Congress government, newly-appointed Karnataka Assembly LoP R Ashok asserted that the main tasks ahead of him were ensuring victory in all the 28 Lok Sabha seats and fighting against the corrupt state government.
Ashok told reporters: “All our MLAs elected me as the LoP of the Assembly. My task is to deliver well in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.”
He added: “We won a record 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the previous polls. We will register a victory in all 28 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections because the JD(S) has also aligned with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This will help us to a great extent in achieving our goal.”
Taking a dig at the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government, Ashok said: “The state government in the last six months hardly bothered about the welfare of the farmers and people.”
He added: “The Congress government is busy with the infighting between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar over the former’s post. The ruling party’s MLAs have already elected Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister but the Shivakumar faction claims that he will be the CM after two and half years.”
He continued: “The Siddaramaiah faction claims that he will continue as the chief minister for five years. This is the quarrel going on in the ruling party. They are hardly addressing burning issues in the state.”
Promising to fight the Congress both inside and outside the Assembly, Ashok said: “The freebies (guarantees) have not even reached 40 percent of the beneficiaries. After guarantees were launched, the state’s finances completely collapsed under this government. There is no money left in the treasury.”
He added: “When there was a flood in Karnataka during our regime, we were given double compensation. Now, there is a severe drought in the state, but the government has not given a single penny to farmers. This clearly shows the financial status of Karnataka.”
Calling the Congress government an “ATM Sarkar”, Ashok alleged: “They are only looking for money. They are an ATM for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In the last two rides (referring to Shivakumar’s visit to poll-bound Telangana), ₹100 crore went to Telangana. They are using the family members to collect the money.”
He continued: “This is the issue in Karnataka. Corruption is a major issue. We will raise it in the upcoming Belagavi Winter Session and fight against the Congress. I am not only the Opposition leader. IT will be all 66 MLAs (of the BJP).”
On the dissent in the cadre, Ashok said: “MLAs gave their opinion before the central observers. There is democracy. Around 99 percent of the MLAs have agreed with the party’s decision. former chief ministers Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar are from North Karnataka. There is no South or North Karnataka. All are one: Kannadigas.”
Earlier in the day, the central observers visited the residence of disgruntled Vijayapura City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in Bengaluru. During their visit, Yatnal is said to have complained about adjustment politics and anti-party activities.
He and Hubballi-Dharwad West seat MLA Aravind Bellad have already expressed unhappiness over plum posts being given to leaders from South Karnataka and those from North Karnataka not being considered.
MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi and Yatnal met the central observers separately and expressed their opinions on electing the LoP for the assembly.
The duo left the hotel without taking part in the legislature party meeting. This led to speculation that everything was not well within the cadre.
Yatnal later told reporters: “I gave them details about adjustment politics and those who cheated the party in the recently-concluded Assembly polls. They did not know the entire truth.”
Taking a swipe at Vijayendra, he added: “The Karnataka BJP should not confine itself to one family. I, the BJP workers, and Hindutva workers will not agree to it. The high command should not take such a decision by listening to certain people.”
The Karnataka BJP chief is the son of former chief minister and party stalwart BS Yediyurappa.
“It’s not in my nature to say ‘Ji Huzur,” says a clearly miffed @BasanagoudaBJP ahead of @BJP4Karnataka LP meet. Yatnal minces no words in expressing disappointment over @BYVijayendra‘s appointment as @BJP4Karnataka President. “BJP shouldn’t become one family’s party”, he says. pic.twitter.com/D5ePH3nrqZ
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) November 17, 2023
“I am not afraid of anyone or blackmail. I will always stand for the truth. I will speak strongly and I won’t compromise with anyone. I have detailed everything about the adjustment politics. I have exposed them,” said Yatnal.
“It is impossible to buy me. One agent came to buy me on Thursday. I told him clearly that I had the power to purchase 10 people like him. There are some people who do such heinous things,” he fumed.
He also stressed the appointment of LoPs from North Karnataka. “I have said that there is no compromise in this regard. Why will they not give it? Should all posts be given to (leaders from) South Karnataka?”
Yatnal pointed out: “There are BJP MPs from Bidar to Raichur because the people of North Karnataka voted for them. The people will decide. We will decide there. I will not keep quiet. It is not my nature to fold hands and say ‘Ji Huzur‘.”
Meanwhile, several BJP MLCs who turned up for the legislature party meeting returned home disappointed, as no LoP for the Legislative Council was elected.
The central observers did not even collect opinions from them to elect the LoP in the Council, claimed BJP MLCs.
Kota Srinivas Poojary, Tejaswini Gowda, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, and N Ravikumar are in the race for the post of LoP in the Legislative Council.
Narayanaswamy told South First: “The party announced the LoP for only the Assembly. The central observers said that they would declare the LoP for the council in the next four days. They did not give any specific reason for why they did not elect an LoP for the Council on Friday.”
MLC Hanumantha Nirani told South First: “We had come with the anticipation that the party would announce the LoP for the Council. We were disappointed as none of the central observers uttered a word about this much-awaited appointment. I hope that the high command will announce the LoP at the earliest,”
