Bangalore: The return of Yeddy: Question of his own survival
Narayana Swamy
Political Analyst
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Dec 6: Former BJP cadre, Lingayat leader and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's return to BJP is now almost certain with all BJP state leaders having given their green signal to the party high command in this regard. However, Yeddyurappa was in two minds since some of his KJP followers were not keen on joining BJP, instead their plan was to join NDA as an ally to support Narendra Modi's prime ministerial candidature.
Things changed soon after the exit poll of Assembly elections in five states was known, which predicted that Narendra Modi-led BJP would come out with flying colours. Yeddyurappa who had several demands before agreeing to join BJP has now reportedly relaxed his 'terms and conditions'. He is reportedly ready to join BJP unconditionally, and discuss the matter once he formally becomes a member of the BJP.
Speaking to daijiworld, state BJP president Prahlad Joshi said that all hurdles with regard to Yeddyurappa's entry into BJP have now been cleared. Currently he is not insisting on any terms before joining. "We realized that we must unite to make use of anti-Congress votes. Due to the split in votes between KJP and BJP, Congress got the advantage, and now we do not want to repeat the mistake. We are confident of winning at least 20-22 seats in upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2014," Joshi said.
On the other hand, it is now certain that Yeddyurappa has no other way than joining BJP, as the current Assembly election results of five states would be a trend-setter for Lok Sabha polls. Since there are good chances of NDA coming to power with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, Yeddyurappa may be saved from harassment by the CBI since cases against him are still not cleared. He is also optimistic that if BJP comes to power he would get a ministerial berth in the Modi cabinet.
However, Yeddyurappa is expected to put forward two of his wishes before the BJP high command - one, his son Raghavendra must get a BJP ticket from Shimoga in the Lok Sabha elections, and two, he himself should be made the head of the election campaign. He has reportedly dropped the demand of a prime position for Shobha Karandlaje in the state BJP, as other BJP leaders are reportedly against giving any position to Shobha and Dhananjay Kumar.
According to state BJP leaders, Yeddyurappa will return to BJP formally before January 1, 2014 unconditionally. It is a calculated move by Yeddyurappa as this is a question of his own survival, rather than of him helping BJP to strengthen in the state.