G Virat Singh/ENS
Bangalore, Jun 6: Even as the 13th Karnataka Legislative Assembly (KLA) will witness no great oratory skills, it has the second largest Opposition with 108 members in the 224-member House after 1983.
The erstwhile Janata Party government headed by late Ramakrishna Hegde in 1983 faced the largest Opposition of 111 members, including 82 Congress members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has emerged as the single largest party with 110 members at the recently-concluded polls, has become the ruling party with support from six independent members.
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) with a combined strength of 108 members in the Opposition are set to give the BJP a tough time.
According to information available at the State Legislative Assembly Secretariat, the KLA was dominated by the Congress till the 1970s. While the Congress had won 150 seats in the 1957 elections, the Republican Socialist Party (RSP) had won 18 seats and the independents had won 35 seats.
In the next Assembly election (in 1962), the Congress strength came down to 138, the RSP bagged 20 seats, two seats were won by the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the independents won 27 seats.
The Congress, which secured 126 seats in the 1967 elections, improved its position by winning 165 seats in the 1972 elections. The breakaway faction, National Congress organisation with 24 members, became the main Opposition.
The Congress, for the first time, sat in the Opposition benches during Hegde’s rule. In the midterm elections held in 1985, the Janata Party, under Hegde’s leadership, emerged victorious with 139 members and the Congress became the principal Opposition party with 65 seats and the BJP got just two seats.
Interestingly, the Congress headed by late Veerendra Patil received an overwhelming mandate and bounced back with 178 members in the 1989 elections.
The Janata Dal secured 24 seats and the BJP could get just four seats. In the next elections (1994), the Janata Dal won 115 seats and with that simple majority formed the government and faced Opposition from 84 members belonging to the BJP (40), the Congress (34) and the Karnataka Congress Party (10) headed by S Bangarappa.
The Congress, winning 132 seats in the 1999 elections again, formed the government and faced Opposition from 44 BJP members and 28 members belonging to the Janata Dal (Secular) and Janata Dal (United).
Though the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 79 elected members in the 2004 elections, the fractured mandate then led to the formation of coalition governments that did not last long.
BJP's Journey to Power: