Senior Bhartiya Janta Party Lawmaker Gulab Chand Kataria on Sunday was chosen unanimously as Leader of Opposition [LoP] for Rajasthan Assembly. The 8-time Legislator and Former Home Minister’s name was proposed by Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje which was unanimously supported by all party’s lawmakers in the all MLA meeting.
While former Parliamentary affairs minister and Lawmaker from Churu Rajendra Rathore has been appointed as its Deputy.
Gulab Chand Kataria, who will also be the pro-tem speaker to conduct the first meeting of the newly elected assembly was first elected as a Lawmaker in 1977, then in 1980. Later Kataria has won all state polls since 1993.
After former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s recent appointment as the party’s national vice president had made Kataria a frontrunner for the post along with Rajendra Rathore. There was only one proposal for the post, the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh told reporters after the meeting. BJP throws weight before the 2019 general elections, assigns Vasundhara, Shivraj, and Raman National roles
Party hopes that Kataria and Rathore can improve the party’s prospects in the upcoming general elections 2019. Party Leaders believe that an effective opposition in the State Assembly will strengthen the Saffron party’s prospects in the parliamentary elections.
Kataria on Monday took oath as pro-tem speaker of 200 member assembly. Governor Kalyan Singh administered him the oath at a simple ceremony in Jaipur at the Raj Bhawan.
The BJP had on December 11 won 73 seats out of the 199 in Rajasthan elections which were held last month, losing out to the Congress which formed the government after winning 99 seats after getting support from others including BSP.
The First Session of the House begins on Tuesday, Jan 15. The Budget session of the state assembly is likely to be held in February.
The politics in the state revolved around Raje for the last 15 years. Her appointment at the party’s central leadership and Gulab Chand Kataria’s appointment as the LoP now is being seen as an end of that phase.