Even as talks to bring back former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to the BJP is gaining momentum after the elevation of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the national campaign committee head for the Lok Sabha polls, the party’s senior party leaders strongly opposed any such move.
At an informal meeting with senior RSS leaders late on Tuesday night, former chief ministers Jagadish Shettar, D V Sadananda Gowda, former Deputy CMs K S Eshwarappa, R Ashok and others are said to have clearly indicated their stand against brining Yeddyurappa back into the party.
Sources said the leaders seem to have told the Sangh Parivar leaders that they will not cooperate with Yeddyurappa if he comes back. “We leave it to the discretion of the party brass to take a call on admitting him into the party. But from our side, there will be zero cooperation,” one of the leaders who attended the meeting told Express on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a section of leaders within the BJP is lobbying hard to get Yeddyurappa back into the party. Recently, party spokesperson G Madhusudhan had written a letter to national president Rajnath Singh requesting him to make efforts to bring Yeddyurappa back.
Yeddyurappa, who was one of the first leaders to congratulate Modi on his new job not only praised the Gujarat strongman, but had also observed that the party will gain strength under his leadership. Yeddyurappa, however, had ruled out returning to the party saying that he will not do anything that affects his identity.