Karnataka BJP leaders meet Rajnath, ask for return of Yeddyurappa

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI): A day after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states, senior BJP leaders from Karnataka today met party chief Rajnath Singh and urged him to start the process of bringing their former leader B S Yeddyurappa back into the party fold.

A party team led by general secretary Ananth Kumar and state unit chief Prahlad Joshi informed that the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) leader's return to the party is necessary for avoiding split of anti-Congress votes in Karnataka in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Senior party leader Easwarappa and party national executive member Arvind Limbavali were part of the team.

"In the interest of the state party, in the interest of entire country and ensuing Lok Sabha polls, we have placed before the national leadership that to avoid division of anti-Congress votes, it is better that we should take back Yeddyurappa into the party," Joshi told reporters after the meeting.

He pointed out that the division of anti-Congress votes had helped the Congress to win the assembly polls. "We have requested him (Rajnath Singh) to start the process of re-inducting Yeddyurappa," Joshi said.

Party sources said, in case Yeddyurappa is reinducted, it will be merger of his party KJP with BJP.

BJP leaders said that the state leadership had made a similar request during party's conclave in Mumbai and the centre leadership has informed the state leadership that the issue can be considered only after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states.

Party sources further said that KJP's demand for being an ally of NDA cannot be agreed, as BJP's state leadership made it clear that they were not ready to accept the demand of KJP as a NDA partner.

Yeddyurappa, who quit the chief ministership in July 2011 over mining bribery charges, quit BJP last year and launched KJP. His party, however, suffered a drubbing in the Karnataka assembly elections and won only six seats.