The appointment of a BJP leader from South Karnataka as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly has raised dust and ruffled feathers in the party, days after party president was also picked from a Southern district.
These developments come ahead of the legislature session in Belagavi. The session is annually conducted in the border district in a bid to highlight issues of North Karnataka which tend to get a short shrift.
The most vociferous voices against this “injustice” have been Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Ramesh Jarkiholi. Mr. Yatnal, former Union Minister, had openly put forward the demand for choosing a leader from North Karnataka as Leader of the Opposition, as the party presidentship had been given to a leader from the south interior region.
‘Inevitable’ caste issue
His demand, however, was not considered by the party high command as the election of leader of legislative party as it finally boiled down to working out a “Lingayat-Vokkaliga” combination. As a Lingayat leader was made party president (B.Y. Vijayendra), it had “become inevitable” for the party to choose a Vokkaliga as Leader of the Opposition (R. Ashok), an MLA from North Karnataka said.
“The issue was raised for sure, but it did not come up for discussion much,” he said. “As North Karnataka had elected more BJP MLAs after Coastal Karnataka, naturally the Leader of the Opposition should have been chosen from the region. Although many felt it, they did not dare open their mouth before the Central leaders.”
Former Mayor of Hubballi-Dharwad and close aide of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Iresh Anchatageri, said they were expecting either Arvind Bellad or Mr. Yatnal to be chosen as Leader of the Opposition. “However the party high command decided otherwise, which we will abide by,” he said.
Six so far
So far, six leaders from northern Karnataka have served as Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses. Mallikarjun Kharge, Dharam Singh, and Jagadish Shettar have served as Leaders of the Opposition in the Assembly, while H.K. Patil and S.R. Patil held the position in the Council. Former Chief Minister S.R. Bommai served as Leader of the Opposition in both Assembly and Council. R.V. Deshpande, who served as Leader of the Opposition in Assembly, and Ramakrishna Hegde, who held the position in Council, hailed from Uttara Kannada which was once part of Bombay Presidency.
At present, barring Basavaraj Horatti, chairman of the Legislative Council, leaders from southern Karnataka and coastal Karnataka occupy most of the important positions in government.
“For decades, the people of northern regions have been watching the leaders from the south remaining oblivious to our problems. I will not fault them for feeling that their woes would have been heard better if the decision making was in the hands of their own leaders. As a matter of principle, vital positions should be distributed equally between north and south,’’ said M.P. Nagadouda, former MLC.
Not just symbolic
However, he cautioned against the demand being met symbolically. Dr. Nadagouda said: “I also feel that it is better to have a large-hearted leader with empathy from southern Karnataka rather than having symbolic representation in a weak leader.”
