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K’taka CLP leader to be elected today
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NewsByte on 27 May, 2008 04:46:40
 
BY VENKAT PARSA
NEW DELHI
May 27: The Karnataka Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has been convened to
meet in Bengaluru on Wednesday to elect its leader. By virtue of numbers, as the
party won 80 seats in the 224-member Assembly, the CLP leader would be the new
Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly. Significantly, on Tuesday,
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president M. Mallikarjuna Kharge and
former Leader of Opposition Dharam Singh met Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has directed the party leadership not to impose
anyone from above but to leave it to the newly-elected legislators to choose
their leader on their own. At least three strong contenders are in the fray for
the post, KPCC president M. Mallikarjuna Kharge, former Karnataka deputy chief
minister H. Siddharamaiah and former Karnataka minister Dr G. Parameshwar. While
Mr Kharge and Dr Parameshwar are dalits, Mr H. Siddharamaiah is an OBC. The
chances are that a dalit may be elected the CLP leader, which means that either
Mr Kharge or Dr Parameshwar may get elected as CLP leader.
The Congress, which has won 80 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is
way ahead of the Janata Dal (Secular) that won only 28 seats and as such, the
party will get the post of Leader of Opposition. The Congress will thus emerge
as the principal secular party to take on the BJP, unlike the JD(S), which
hob-nobbed with the BJP in the recent past.
AICC general secretary Prithviraj Chavan will be attending the CLP meeting
along with AICC observers. The Congress is determined to play the role of the
Opposition. The Congress high command has rejected any suggestion of making a
bid to form the government in Karnataka. The Congress feels that the party
should play the role of the Opposition, reconnect with the masses and seek to
revive the party in the state. The next goal for the party is to fight the
upcoming parliamentary elections due in early 2009.
It is against this backdrop that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi is
examining the causes of the electoral debacle of the Congress in Karnataka. It
is only then that the correctives would be applied. Ms Sonia Gandhi got a report
from AICC general secretary incharge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chavan. Now, KPCC
president M. Mallikarjuna Kharge and Mr Dharam Singh have also reported to Ms
Gandhi. The KPCC may also be reconstituted.