Yeddyurappa intensifies efforts to return to BJP

The move comes in after Modi's anointment as prime ministerial candidate

Former BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa has intensified efforts to return to the party by sending his emissary to the national capital today to meet senior leaders L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley to build a consensus on merging his KJP with the saffron party.

Yeddyurappa, who had to resign from the post of Karnataka Chief Minister after he was indicted in a graft case by the Lokayukta, has shown his willingness to return to the BJP after Narendra Modi was made its prime ministerial candidate, party sources said.

He had quit BJP in December last year and floated the Karnataka Janata Party.

The Lingayat leader is holding an executive meeting of KJP today where a resolution will be passed hailing Modi's anointment and stating that the party is open to merge with BJP if there is a consensus in the saffron party on the issue, sources said.

Yeddyurappa has also deputed his close associate and MLC Lehar Singh to visit Delhi and meet senior BJP leaders.

He is expected to meet Jaitley and has also sought an appointment with Advani, who was firmly opposed to Yeddyurappa's continuance in office after he was found guilty by the Lokayukta.

Lehar Singh is likely to meet BJP President Rajnath Singh late evening, the sources said.

"If there is no consensus in the BJP central unit and among the BJP leaders in Karnataka on the issue, then Yeddyurappa is not willing to join. He has no immediate stakes as he is not going to become Chief Minister anytime soon. BJP will gain more as the Lok Sabha polls are near," a KJP leader said.

Yeddyurappa, who has reportedly kept a line of communication open with Modi in the last few months, wrote to the Gujarat chief minister congratulating him on his anointment.

Both BJP and KJP had performed badly in the Assembly elections earlier this year. However, the sum total of their votes, as well as that of Sriramulu (an associate of mining barons Reddy brothers) remained the same.

This led the two parties to agree that they would gain from returning to the BJP fold. But leaders like Advani and Ananth Kumar, Yeddyurappa's bete noire, are opposed to KJP's merger.