JOIN USA group of BJP State leaders will hold discussions with party national president Rajnath Singh in Bangalore on Friday, on the homecoming of KJP president B S Yeddyurappa and then call on the former chief minister in a day or two to fix a date for the merger of two parties.
Rajnath Singh is scheduled to arrive in Bangalore on Friday morning to attend a special State executive meeting to discuss the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.
According to party sources, the former chief minister is learnt to have told Singh during their meeting in Shimoga recently, that he wanted a grand homecoming and that he would merge the KJP with BJP in the presence of senior central leaders.
Singh is understood to have told Yeddyurappa that he would depute a small team of State leaders to work out the details. However, the State executive committee is unlikely to openly discuss the Yeddyurappa issue on Friday.
BSR Congress
In another development, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar is understood to be pushing for the re-entry of B Sriramulu of BSR Congress into the party. Informal discussion on the merger of BSR Congress with BJP will be taken up with Singh on Friday.
Briefing reporters on the deliberations of the office-bearers meeting held in Bangalore on Thursday, BJP State General Secretary C T Ravi said party had set a target of securing 20 plus seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party will soon launch a door-to-door campaign highlighting the failures of the State and the UPA governments and the achievements of the NDA government. The campaign will be held between January 15 and 30. A drive would be taken up to collect donations for ‘Modi for PM Fund,’ Ravi said.