Karnataka BJP MLAs to meet May 14 to elect new leader

Newly-elected BJP legislators in Karnataka will meet to elect their new leader May 14 in Bangalore, party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said here Wednesday.

He said former BJP president Nitin Gadkari had been asked by the central parliamentary board to attend the meeting.

"The central parliamentary board has asked Nitin Gadkari to attend the legislature party meeting of the party," Naidu said.

He said party leader Dharmendra Pradhan will also attend the meeting to assist Gadkari in overseeing the election of a leader of the BJP legislature party.

The BJP received a severe drubbing in the Karnataka polls and is poised to win only 40 seats in the assembly. It had won 110 seats in the 2008 elections and ruled the state for five years.

Naidu said a full majority to the Congress is "good in a way as the party would not be able to give excuses if it is not able to fulfill its promises".

Naidu said if the credit for the Karnataka victory was given to the top Congress leadership, the discredit for losing a string of assembly polls earlier will also go to them.