Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda seems to be setting record after record after he was elevated to the top post in August last year. After becoming the first MLC to become Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr Gowda on Wednesday became the first CM not to be made House leader. As per norm, the CM is the leader of the House of which he is a member. In his letter to Council chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy, Mr Gowda, who was elected to the Upper House in the December 22 bypoll, nominated higher education, muzrai and IT-BT minister Dr V.S. Acharya as the House leader.

Law and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar, who is currently the House leader in the Assembly, did not rule out the possibility of Mr Gowda becoming leader of the lower House. Citing the example of Maharashtra, where Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is the House leader in the Assembly despite being an MLC, Mr Kumar said that the ruling party was exploring the possibility of making Mr Gowda the leader of the House in the Assembly.

Highly placed sources in the party however maintained that Mr Sadananda Gowda was forced to propose the name of Dr Acharya after the latter declined to step down from the post. He reportedly told party seniors that he was capable of handling the responsibility of floor management, the sources added. Council Secretariat sources said that as per procedure, the CM has to be the leader of either House since he is the leader of the BJP legislative party.