The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mathikatti may be elected Council Chairman

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Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Mathikatti may be elected Council Chairman

Special Correspondent

Although the BJP candidate is in the fray, the party lacks majority in the House

Congress, JD(S) have a combined strength of 42 in the Legislative Council
The BJP has 23 members in the House

— Photos: K. Gopinathan

The contestants: Congress candidate for the post of Legislative Council Chairman Veeranna Mathikatti (second from left) filing his nomination papers in Bangalore on Monday. (Right) BJP candidate Shashil Namoshi filing his papers. With him are party leaders Ramachandra Gowda and D.H. Shankaramurthy.

Bangalore: The stage is set for election to the post of Chairman of the Legislative Council on Tuesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Shashil G. Namoshi, who filed his nomination papers on Monday, clarifying that he was very much in the fray.

It is almost certain that Veeranna Mathikatti of the Congress is going to be elected, even if there is a contest, as the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have arrived at an understanding. The two parties have a combined strength of 42 in the House.

The Congress and Janata Dal (S) have 29 and 13 members respectively. The BJP with 23 members cannot get its candidate elected even if it manages to get the support of two Janata Dal (United) members and three independents. However, sources in the ruling party said that the Congress had not sought its support to Mr. Mathikatti and therefore there was no question of withdrawing its candidate from the fray. There are five vacancies in the House, which has an effective strength of 75.

The election of Mr. Mathikatti, who resigned as Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House might be unanimous, if the Congress leaders approach the BJP to withdraw Mr. Namoshi from the fray.

Congress MLCs met here in the morning under the chairmanship of the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, and All-India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Pravin Dawar, and the candidature of Mr. Mathikatti for the Chairman’s post was announced.

The leaders also made known the decision of the high command to choose V.S. Ugrappa, a senior MLC to replace Mr. Mathikatti as Leader of the Opposition in the Council. Later, Mr. Ugrappa’s appointment was accepted by acting Chairman N. Thippanna, who announced it in the House.

According to sources, the Janata Dal (S), which had reportedly supported the candidature of Mr. Mathikatti, had asked it to reciprocate by supporting its candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Council.

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