Unanimity eludes Cong to elect Oppn leader in Upper House

Bangalore, June 19 (UNI) Unanimity eluded the Congress members of the Karnataka Legislative Council, who met here today to elect the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House.

The meeting unanimously decided to leave the decision to party President Sonia Gandhi. A resolution to this effect was passed in the meeting.

The meeting, presided over by KPCC president Mallikarjuna Kharge and attended by Congress Working Committee member A K Antony, incharge of the party affairs in the state, was attended by 36 out of the 40 Council members. It was expected that incumbent H K Patil, who had been named on an ad-hoc basis as the Leader of the Opposition, would be elected unanimously. However, some more members threw in their hats for the post, which carries the rank of a Cabinet Minister.

The other contenderrs included Prof B K Chandrashekar, Veeranna Mattikatti, V S Ugrappa and S R Patil.

Incidentally, the resolution was moved by Mr H K Patil himself, and was seconded by the other contenders.

Mr Kharge, who briefed reporters after the meeting, said there was no discussion regarding the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, a post held by former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh.

Commenting on the biennial elections to the Council from the Graduates and Teachers constituencies, for which counting was held today, he said the party had recorded improved performance by finishing second in two seats. ''We were finishing third or fourth in this segment earlier. This is an improvement. We will improve further hereafter,'' he added.

While four seats were retained by the BJP, independents won the remaining two seats.

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