BJP sticks to old guard, chooses Shettar

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Bengaluru: Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar was elected floor leader of BJP in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday while his predecessor D.V.Sadananda Gowda will be the opposition leader in the upper House even as the leaders put off introspection over its dismal performance in the recent elections by a day. 
Former deputy chief minister R.Ashok was elected deputy leader of BJP in the lower House, while senior leader K.B. Shanappa, will occupy the post of deputy leader of opposition in the upper House. The elections were held during a meeting of the core committee and BJP legislature party in the presence of former president Nitin Gadkari and secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Interestingly, BJP leaders did not introspect over the party’s rout in the recent polls to the Legislative Assembly. The leaders said the dismal performance of the party would be debated at length by newly elected legislators and candidates who were defeated in the polls at a meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, sources in the party said office bearers of all district units tabled detailed reports on the poll debacle in the meeting. “We have not discussed reasons for the debacle. The party has sought preliminary report on poll results and we have submitted the same”, a district office bearer told Deccan Chronicle.Sources said heated discussions were witnessed ahead of election of the new leader for the upper House with former minister V.Somanna throwing his hat in the ring. National general secretary H N Ananth Kumar supported the candidature of K.B. Shanappa, but Mr Sadananda Gowda made it as he had the backing of a majority of council members. 
Disappointed with the party’s decision, senior member B Ramachandra Gowda boycotted the meeting of the legislature party, alleging that the party did not take into account the fact that he was a senior member.
Besides these elections, the leaders discussed about the party’s organizational programmes, including a “jail bharo” agitation against the UPA government on May 27. The party decided to organize district-level programmes against the UPA government, and simultaneously launch a membership drive at booth level.