Siddaramaiah likely to be Leader of Opposition: Ramalinga Reddy

Former Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy, creating a buzz about Karnataka leadership, on Sunday, said that former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is likely to be the Leader of Opposition in the State legislative assembly.

Discussions still on

Speaking to the media after attending the meeting with party General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry and other leaders, Reddy said, "One of the main issues which we discussed was about the selection of opposition leader. Till now, Siddaramaiah and HK Patil are in the contention, however, Siddaramaiah is likely to be chosen as the Leader of Opposition." He also added, "Discussions among the party MLAs and MLCs are still on regarding the selection of the Leader of the Opposition.”

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This comes just a day after Congress Ministers fumed over the delay in the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in both the Houses of the Karnataka legislature. During a meeting that was held yesterday, a top party leader, while expressing his disappointment, said that senior legislators were disappointed with the party central leadership for the delay in the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.

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HK Patil's statement

He also said that the central leadership has to nominate legislators for the posts of chief whip of the party in both the Houses. However,  after the meeting, former Minister HK Patil also admitted that he is also in the running for the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. He also said that he is not in competition with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and that he has adequate experience for the post as he has already worked as the Leader of the Opposition.

Reddy’s statement, thus, has put the public in a state of dilemma as to how strong does Siddaramaiah stand a chance to hold the post, after Patil’s yesterday’s statement has effectively boasted of confidence.

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