Congress appoints Siddaramaiah as Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly; ex-CM thanks Sonia Gandhi for opportunity

Bengaluru: The Congress on Wednesday appointed former chief minister Siddaramaiah as Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and ex-minister SR Patil in Legislative Council. “Congress president has appointed Siddaramaiah as leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly and S R Patil as leader of opposition in the Legislative Council in Karnataka with immediate effect,” a party statement said. “The party appreciates the contribution of Shri Siddaramaiah as member of the Congress Working Committee,” the party statement further said. Siddaramaiah on Wednesday thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for showing “faith” in him and appointing him as Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.

I am grateful to Hon. @INCIndia President Smt. Sonia Gandhiji for appointing me as Leader of Opposition of Ktaka Assembly & Leader of CLP. I am honoured by her faith in me. All @INCKarnataka leaders will work to strengthen the party in &expose the failures of @BJP4Karnataka govt.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) October 9, 2019

In another tweet, he thanked Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for having given him the opportunity to work as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Siddaramaiah now ceases to be a member of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the party, it said in a release. The appointments come a day ahead of the winter session of the state legislature from Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_5090621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress leader Siddaramaiah. Getty Images[/caption] Race to the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly had gained momentum as factions had emerged within the party both in favour and opposing Siddaramaiah, who was seen as a key contender. Several senior party leaders including G Parameshwara, HK Patil were said to be opposed to it and eyeing for the post. Senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry was recently sent by the party high command to solicit the opinion of local leaders on the post of Leader of the Opposition (LOP) and a few other key posts like opposition leader in the council, deputy leaders and chief whips in both Houses. Mistry on Sunday had spent the entire day holding one-on-one consultations on who should lead the party in the assembly, during which as a show of strength a large group of party legislators had met him, to make case for Siddaramaiah as LOP. This even as few old guards of the party met Mistry and pushed for candidates other than Siddaramaiah, not wanting all the key post to rest with the former Chief Minister. A section within the party, especially old guards are unhappy with Siddaramaiah “gaining control” over the party. At a party meeting recently, senior leaders like K H Muniyappa and B K Hariprasad had hit out at Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, considered close to him, for their “unilateral style of functioning” and over accountability not being fixed for party’s debacle in polls.