Putting the ball back into former chief minister and Karnataka Janata Party President B S Yeddyurappa’s court, the BJP core committee, which met here on Saturday, asked him to submit a proposal expressing his willingness to join back the party.
BJP National General Secretary and in-charge of Karnataka, Thawar Chand Gehlhot told reporters after a two-hour marathon meeting, “Since Yeddyurappa had quit the BJP on his own, it is for him to send a proposal directly to BJP National President Rajnath Singh wishing to return to BJP. Then the proposal will be placed before the Central Parliamentary Board which will decide whether to take him or not.”
He said, “The issue of some BJP leaders meeting Karnataka BJP unit president Prahlad Joshi and batting for Yeddyurappa’s re-entry into the party was discussed in the meeting. The members have expressed their opinion. Ultimately, it is the central leaders who will take a call on this issue. I will brief Rajnath Singh about what happened at the meeting. Now, the ball is in Yeddyurappa’s court.”
He refused to comment on whether Yeddyurappa’s return was inevitable for the BJP in view of the forthcoming elections to Lok Sabha.
A senior BJP leader told Express that the members, including former chief ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, wanted Delhi leaders to take an early decision on Yeddyurappa’s re-entry into the BJP to prevent confusion among the party workers. If needed, the national leaders could invite the core committee members to Delhi to have a detailed discussion on the matter. It was better to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to Yeddyurappa’s re-entry into the BJP so that the party could prepare for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The leader said, “Gehlot was apprised about Yeddyurappa’s ‘tactical’ move of denying that he was joining the BJP on the one hand and pressuring state leaders to issue press statements in his favour on the other. If the KJP leader is really interested in coming back to the BJP, let him send a proposal directly to Rajnath Singh about his willingness to join the BJP. The members want the national leaders to issue gag orders on a few leaders who want to keep this issue alive to create confusion.”
“Most of the members were non-committal on the matter and they wanted the party high command to take a suitable decision after weighing the pros and cons of Yeddyurappa’s re-entry. However, they unanimously wanted the party high command to apply the same yardstick to Yeddyurappa as done in the case of Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and Madanlal Khurana, who quit and later returned to the BJP,” the leader said.
The leader said, “The meeting decided not to discuss this issue much in public as it will send a wrong signal that it is the BJP which wants Yeddyurappa back in the party and not the other way round. In fact, the party is getting prepared to face the Lok Sabha polls without Yeddyurappa.”
Among those who participated in the meeting were state BJP President Prahlad Joshi, BJP National General Secretary H N Ananthkumar, Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Council D V Sadananda Gowda, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, former deputy chief ministers K S Eshwarappa and R Ashok and Santosh, secretary (organisation).
Thawar Chand Gehlot hinted that disciplinary action would be initiated against those who issue statements in favour of Yeddyurappa.