Yeddyurappa speeds up merger of his outfit with BJP

A day after agreeing to merge his Karnataka Janata Party with the Bharatiya Janata Party, B.S. Yeddyurappa Friday requested assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa to recognise him and his party legislators as BJP members.

"I submitted a letter to the speaker informing that KJP is merging with BJP and hence we should be recognised as BJP members," Yeddyurappa told reporters after meeting Thimappa in the state secretariat.

The KJP has six members in the 225-member assembly but one of them - B.R. Patil - has decided not to join BJP. Patil told reporters in home district Gulbarga in north Karnataka Friday that his "mindset" was against BJP and hence he was not joining it.

Yeddyurappa has also written a letter to the Election Commission informing it of the merger of the KJP with BJP.

Yeddyurappa was BJP's first chief minister in Karnataka after leading the party to victory in 2008 assembly elections but was forced to quit office in July 2011 over corruption charges. He quit BJP in December last year to head KJP.

Thimmappa told reporters that he would take a decision on Yeddyurappa's request after BJP officially informs him of its decision.

As and when the speaker recognises KJP members as BJP members, BJP will become the main opposition party in place of Janata Dal-Secular.

The BJP and JD-S won 40 seats each in the May assembly election, which brought back the Congress to power. However, the JDS was recognised as the opposition party as its vote share was higher that of BJP.