Karnataka: After R Ashoka appointed as LoP, MLA Bharath Shetty says BJP will expose Siddaramaiah govt on more issues

Nov 18, 2023

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 18 : Karnataka BJP MLA Bharath Shetty Y said on Friday said that Congress government in the state would be "exposed" on many more issues in the coming days with the leadership of R Ashoka who was newly appointed as Leader of Opposition in the state.
"Recently the Chief Minister's son was exposed doing this transfer scam so he has been called a shadow CM. There are many more issues like this. The guarantees have failed, the state is in a very bad financial condition. All these things, we are going to expose properly to the public," Bharath Shetty told ANI.
"We have been handling the ruling party or the ruling government without the Opposition party leader and with the old state president also. There's nothing new to us," he added.
Mean while R Ashoka expressed gratitude to prominent leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, General Secretary Santhosh, and fellow MLAs after being elected by his party as LoP in Karnataka.
During his statement, Ashoka seized the opportunity to critique the Congress party, saying that they have made no significant contributions to the welfare of the poor and farmers in the past six months.
He pointed to internal discord within the Congress, specifically highlighting the ongoing power struggle between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar over the Chief Minister post.
"My party, PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, General Secretary Santhosh, and all our MLAs today elected me as LoP of the Karnataka Assembly... Congress has done nothing for the poor and farmers in the last 6 months; they're infighting; Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are fighting over the CM post," R Ashoka said.
He mentioned that decisions regarding their strategy and candidates would be discussed with party president JP Nadda and finalised based on the central leadership's guidance.
"Our leaders have taken an opinion. After this, it will be discussed with party president JP Nadda, and then it will be announced. All decisions will be taken by the central leadership," he said.
Earlier, the BJP announced the appointment of former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
R Ashoka is an MLA from the Padmanabhanagar constituency. He also held the revenue portfolio in the previous BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai in Karnataka.
Congress registered victory on 135 seats, and the BJP managed to secure 66 seats in a 224-seat assembly in the Assembly polls held in Karnataka in May this year. The state saw a voting percentage of 72.68 per cent.