Cong appoints Siddaramaiah as LoP in Karnataka Assembly, SR Patil in Council

New Delhi, Oct 09: The Congress on Wednesday appointed former chief minister Siddaramaiah as Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and ex-minister S R Patil in Legislative Council.

"Congress president has appointed Siddaramaiah as leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly and S R Patil as leader of opposition in the Legislative Council in Karnataka with immediate effect," a party statement said.

Siddaramaiah now ceases to be a member of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party.

"The party appreciates the contribution of Shri Siddaramaiah as member of the Congress Working Committee," the party statement further said.

Ahead of a meeting of Congress leaders to decide the new Leader of Opposition, HK Patil had denied reports of a tussle in the party.

"Nothing is going on between any personalities. Not between me and anybody else. The party high command has sent Madhusudan Mistry to interact with our state leaders to know who should get different posts. We have given our opinions. He has taken the report and gone back to Delhi to our President (Sonia Gandhi)," he had said.

After winning just two seats in the national election in May, the party and its ally Janata Dal Secular had faced a rebellion in which 16 of their lawmakers quit the assembly. Which later resulted in the collapse of the government.