JOIN USKarnataka Janata Party (KJP) president B S Yeddyurappa has requested National Democratic Alliance chairman L K Advani to make the KJP a partner in the BJP-led coalition.
The former chief minister wrote to Advani on October 19, asking him to involve the KJP in all deliberations of the NDA. Yeddyurappa is not in Advani’s good books. But he has been praising Modi and often said the Gujarat chief minister was fit to become the prime minister. Interestingly, Yeddyurappa has not mentioned Advani anywhere. He addressed the letter to the NDA chairman and marked copies to senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari.
Yeddyurappa’s offer comes amid several KJP leaders’ repeated assertion that the party would not merge with the BJP. The KJP wants to retain its identity, but would like a seat sharing arrangement before the Lok Sabha polls, he said. The KJP would like to contest at least a dozen seats, he added.
Yeddyurappa said the KJP was a recognised regional party, with six seats and a vote share of over 10 per cent. “In the KJP’s executive committee meeting on September 19, it was unanimously decided to support the NDA in its endeavor of making Narendra Modi the future prime minister. We, therefore, request you to consider us an alliance party of the NDA and involve us in all the deliberations of the NDA by inviting the KJP to all the meetings,” he said.
Yeddyurappa also promised full cooperation in making the NDA a success in the elections.
Meanwhile, Modi has not expressed his views on Yeddyurappa’s offer. Even the State BJP is divided over Yeddyurappa’s re-entry.