New Leader of the Opposition next week, says Karnataka BJP President Vijayendra

Bengaluru: Newly-appointed BJP state president Vijayendra Yediyurappa announced Friday that a Leader of the Opposition will be finalised next week.

"Coming Friday (November 17), the BJP legislature party meeting will be convened. Observers will come from New Delhi. MLAs will give their opinions and a leader of the opposition will be finalised," Vijayendra told reporters.

Vijayendra said he had discussed this with BJP national president J P Nadda. "We spoke about this soon after I was appointed (on Friday evening)," he said.

The BJP has been without a Leader of the Opposition in the legislature for nearly six months after the Congress came to power. This has left party leaders embarrassed. "We're tired of talking about it," BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said earlier this week, which captured the morose mood. The Congress has been repeatedly attacking the BJP for not being able to pick a Leader of the Opposition.

Speculation is rife that the BJP would look at a caste combination. With a Lingayat appointed as state president, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly may be a Vokkaliga or an OBC.

According to sources, former deputy chief minister R Ashoka and Dr C N Ashwath Narayan are front runners from the Vokkaliga community. Former minister V Sunil Kumar, an Idiga, may have an edge if the BJP chooses to go with an OBC.

“We also cannot rule out the possibility of senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a soft-spoken Brahmin, being considered given his rich legislative experience," a source said.