Quitting BJP a mistake: BSY

Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) leader B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday hinted at rejoining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The former chief minister  indicated his plan when he warned the Congress that the BJP, KJP and the Badava Shramika Raitha (BSR) Congress would unite and make the ruling party in the State bite the dust in the Lok Sabha elections. Yeddyurappa also admitted that the BJP’s disintegration was a “mistake.” The Congress came to power owing to lack of unity among BJP leaders.

Yeddyurappa made this statement in the Assembly while reacting to Congress leader Ramesh Kumar’s remark that the people “cannot forget the BJP’s misrule easily.”
“It was a mistake. I admit it . Because we disintegrated into  the BJP, KJP and the BSR Congress, the Congress came to power. We have learnt our lessons. You wait and see. We will come together and restrict you to just six to seven seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Please have patience,” he said.

It was perhaps the first time that Yeddyurappa openly spoke about a possible reunion of the KJP and BSR Congress with the BJP. Though some leaders on both sides have been making efforts to get Yeddyurappa back to the BJP, the former Karnataka chief minister maintained that he had no such plans.

Yeddyurappa’s statement came a day after the three parties decided to join hands and defend the previous BJP government. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been using all available platforms to accuse the BJP of poor governance. While presenting the 2013-14 Budget recently, Siddaramaiah said the State’s finances were in a shambles due to the poor governance by the BJP government.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and Yeddyurappa were seen greeting each other.

Shettar even submitted openly in the Assembly during his speech on the Budget proposals that Yeddyurappa played a major role in Siddaramaiah becoming the chief minister. Shettar also said the BJP lost in the elections due to lack of unity.

“Lack of unity proved advantageous to the Congress. Do not be under the impression that the people gave you a clear mandate,” he said.

  Yeddyurappa also shook hands with Shettar before leaving the Assembly for the day.