Key Karnataka BJP meeting on July 2; Decision on Leader of Opposition likely
The Karnataka unit of the BJP has convened the meeting of its MLAs and MLCs to elect their floor leader on July 2 wherein a much-delayed consensus on the Leader of Opposition is expected to be reached. The selection of the Leader of Opposition is usually done immediately after the election results.
FollowThe July 2 meeting would be attended by State President Nalin kumar Kateel, Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh, and Central Parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa.
Some of the names doing the rounds for the Leader of Opposition include that of Basavaraj Bommai, Basangouda Patil Yatnal, Dr Ashwathnarayan, V Sunil Kumar, and R Ashok. Shreenivas Pujari, Tejaswini Gowda, and ChaluvadiNarayan Swamy are likely candidates for the Legislative council.
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Let us examine the LoP post frontrunners closely:
Basavaraj Bommai
Basavaraj Somappa Bommai served as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka from July 18, 2021 until May 19, 2023. He is currently a Bharatiya Janata Party member and was previously a Janata Dal member. He represents Shiggaon in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, where he has been elected four times since 2008. He was the Minister of Water Resources and Major and Medium Irrigation from 2008 to 2013. In July 2022, Bommai became only the second BJP Karnataka chief minister to complete a year in office.Â
Basangouda Patil Yatnal
Basangouda Ramangouda Patil Yatnal served as Minister of State for Textiles from 1 July 2002 to 8 September 2003, and as Minister of State for Railways from 8 September 2003 to 16 May 2004. He has been a member of the Bijapur City assembly's constituency since 2018. He was a member of the legislative council from the Bijapur Local Authorities constituency and spent two terms in Parliament from the Bijapur seat. Currently he is the member of the legislative assembly.
Dr Ashwathnarayan
Chikkakalya Narayanappa Ashwathnarayan has served as Minister of Electronics, Information Technology - Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, and Livelihood from 20 August 2019 to 13 May 2023. From 20 August 2019 to 26 July 2021, he served as Karnataka's 8th Deputy Chief Minister. He represents the Malleshwaram constituency.
