Modi for early Yeddy return
New Delhi, Nov. 14: Narendra Modi is goading his BJP colleagues to take an early decision on B.S. Yeddyurappa’s re-induction.
It has been learnt that rather than have Yeddyurappa back with his party as an NDA constituent, Modi wants his fledgling outfit, the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), to be merged with the BJP.
Yeddyurappa was initially averse to the idea. But sources close to him said he was convinced by his son Raghavendra, a Lok Sabha MP, that re-joining the BJP was the best option.
“Yeddyurappa is 70. His son thought at this age, he is not in a position to build a party, raise resources, organise cadres.... They felt it was better he returned to the BJP,” a source said.
The BJP had reservations on other scores. It felt if Yeddyurappa came back as the head of an NDA constituent, he would have the same status as the other coalition leaders like Parkash Singh Badal (Akali Dal) and Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena).
“That thought discomfited those leaders who remain opposed to him because they visualised Yeddyurappa seated next to Advani in an NDA meeting as an equal. But a more serious reason is that if he remained outside the BJP, he could continue to damage its prospects in the Lok Sabha polls in the seats contested by the BJP. Our information is the Congress has tapped him for help,” a source said.
Party sources said a “formal” decision could be taken in the first week of December.
Yeddyurappa quit the BJP in November 2012, nearly six months before the Karnataka elections, and floated the KJP.
Although the KJP won just six seats, it damaged the BJP in several places dominated by Yeddyurappa’s Lingayat caste.
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