Siddaramaiah, 3 others in race to be LoP

Three senior Congress leaders, besides former chief minister Siddaramaiah, are said to be vying to become leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

Former ministers H K Patil, M B Patil and D K Shivakumar are understood to have laid claim to lead the party in the Assembly.

Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is slated to visit Bengaluru and is likely to hold a meeting on Tuesday to choose the leader of the Opposition. The Congress, with 65 MLAs, is the largest Opposition party in the Assembly.

Siddaramaiah may end up becoming the default choice since he is also the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. However, one faction is not in favour of Siddaramaiah becoming the leader of the Opposition. “He has been at the helm for 10 years - five years as leader of the Opposition and another five as the chief minister,” one leader pointed out. “Also, his own followers caused the collapse of the coalition government.”

Shivakumar told reporters that he had not applied for the position.

"If my party wants me to be the leader in the Assembly, I am willing to do it," he said.