Bengaluru: Even as the BJP is yet to name its Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, even after two months of the declaration of the Assembly results with the Congress returning to power with a thumping majority, former BJP Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has subtly hinted that JD(S) Legislature Party Leader H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK) may become the Opposition Leader, should the JD(S) and the BJP strike a coalition shortly.

In an informal chat with press-persons during the ongoing Assembly Session here yesterday, Bommai, who is also a senior BJP leader, said that a National-level meet of Opposition parties under the leadership of former AICC President Sonia Gandhi is going to take place at Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

As a counter, the BJP, as part of its plans to expand its  NDA (National Democratic Alliance) coalition ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls, is also holding a meeting at Delhi on July 18, to bring all anti-Congress regional parties under the NDA and the JD(S) is likely  to be a part of it in Karnataka, he said.

The BJP High Command is going to take a decision on the Opposition Leader in the Karnataka Assembly only after the July 18 NDA meeting, he noted adding that the speculation over Kumaraswamy becoming the Opposition Leader of the BJP-JD(S) combine  may become a reality only if the JD(S) formally joins the NDA coalition.

Meanwhile, adding credence to Bommai’s informal statement, Congress MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who was with the BJP for long and quit the party after he was denied the ticket in the Assembly polls, said in the Assembly on Wednesday  that Kumaraswamy was going to be the Opposition Leader.

Even as Chamundeshwari JD(S) MLA G.T. Devegowda (GTD) was speaking during the debate on the Governor’s address, when the MLA wanted to know why the Opposition BJP had not yet announced the name of the Opposition Leader and why the BJP has not come up with the actual reason why B.S. Yediyurappa was asked to resign as the CM in 2021, Congress MLA from Athani Laxman Savadi  intervened to say that the Leader of the Opposition post has almost come at the doorsteps of the JD(S), which GTD may also be in the know.

Maintaining that the BJP High Command, which is fed up with the internal bickering in its State Unit, is considering the possibility of making Kumaraswamy as the Opposition Leader, he said that the BJP has also put on hold the announcement of the new President of the State Unit probably for this reason.