Rebel Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy was Friday recognised as the JD-S legislature party leader by
Karnataka Assembly Speaker Krishna.

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In his ruling, the speaker said N Thipanna, who was the state unit president of the JD-S before joining hands with Kumaraswamy, had given a letter to him stating that at a meeting chaired by him on January 19, Kumaraswamy had been elected as their leader, replacing the incumbent deputy chief minister M P Prakash.

"I have consulted four legal experts and nobody has written any letter objecting to the resolution passed at that meeting," the speaker said.

He was therefore recognising Kumaraswamy as the JD-S LP leader, he said.

Protesting the ruling, the Congress members staged a dharna, leading to a brief adjournment of the House.