Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader K. Pratap Chandra Shetty took charge as the new Legislative Council Chairman, after he was elected unopposed as the Chairman of the Upper House on Wednesday.

Pratap Chandra Shetty, a former four-term MLA from Kundapura, is now a third time MLC and had a clean political career.

However, the surprise election of Pratap Chandra Shetty has not gone down well with Basavaraj Horatti of the JD(S) and S.R. Patil of the Congress who were contenders for the post. Horatti, who is the senior most member of the Council, after having got elected for seventh consecutive term from Karnataka West Teachers Constituency, has accused the Congress of violating the ‘Coalition Dharma’ by not giving the Chairman’s post to JD(S).

There was discontent in the Congress camp as well. Senior Congress MLC S.R. Patil, who was also a strong contender, said North Karnataka has been again denied a chance.

He claimed that people of North Karnataka had expected that in the ongoing Belagavi Session, the region would get a top position in the Legislative Council, but that was not to be.

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