Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday appointed senior BJP MLC Raghunath Rao Malkapure to perform the duties as the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council until a new person is elected to the post.

The appointment was necessitated as Basavaraj Horatti resigned as Chairman on Monday, and also the post of Deputy Chairman is lying vacant.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 184 of the Constitution of India, I, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka, do hereby appoint Raghunath Rao Malkapure, Member of the Legislative Council to perform the duties of the Office of the Chairman of the Legislative Council with effect from 17.05.2022 until a Chairman is duly elected by the House," the official notification said.

Malkapure, who hails from Bidar district, is a two time MLC. He had also served in various party positions.

"This is for the first time such an appointment has happened, as the post of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman were vacant," Horatti said.

Horatti, who resigned as Chairman and MLC on Monday, will be joining BJP soon, and is expected to be the party's candidate for the upcoming MLC polls from West Teachers' constituency.

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Malda (PTI): In less than a fortnight after a senior Trinamool Congress councillor was murdered in West Bengal's Malda district, a TMC worker was killed and two other party members were injured in a shootout incident in broad daylight in the same region on Tuesday, police said.

Like in the previous incident, police suspected that Tuesday's shootout was also a fallout of the party's infighting.

The deceased was identified as Ataul Haque alias Hasu Sheikh and the two injured are Bakul Sheikh, a TMC local committee president, and Esaruddin Sheikh, a senior officer said.

The incident took place in Kaliaganj area in the morning when the TMC local committee president along with party workers went to a function to inaugurate a road, an officer said.

"One of the party workers who were shot at was declared dead by doctors at the Malda Medical College and Hospital. Two others are undergoing treatment there, and their condition was stated to be critical," he said.

"We are questioning people and witnesses. So far, we have not arrested anyone in this matter," the police officer told PTI.

TMC councillor in Malda Dulal Sarkar was killed on January 2, and seven people have been arrested in this connection.