Though Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) chief B.S. Yeddyurappa has been maintaining that he is averse to the idea of returning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, he almost confirmed his comeback.

During the discussion on the State Budget, Mr. Yeddyurappa admitted that a “mistake” had been committed by them (BJP leaders and himself).

In a confessional mode, he continued: “Three of us shared the power and our mistake facilitated the Congress to garner power after seven years. We have learnt a lesson and we will join hands to humble the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Have patience till then,” he said.

This outburst from Mr. Yeddyurappa and his repeated attempts to safeguard the interests of the BJP during the discussion on the budget took everyone by surprise.

Togetherness

Interestingly, earlier in the day, he had even led a walk out of the BJP and KJP members.

Upset over the absence of several Ministers and officials during the discussion on the budget, members of the BJP and the KJP staged a walkout in the Assembly.

This prompted Congress MLA (Madhugiri) K.N. Rajanna to say that this proved the rumours of a KJP-BJP tie-up.

Interestingly, though the BJP members first only threatened to stage a walkout expressing their discontent over the apathy of the Congress in participating in the debate, they followed Mr. Yeddyurappa when he walked out of the House.

Trouble erupted when members of the Janata Dal (Secular) and theformer Speaker Ramesh Kumar expressed their dissatisfaction over the way “the ruling party is conducting” the session.

After lunch, when BJP leader Jagadish Shettar rose to discuss the budget, the treasury bench was almost empty.

Except for Minister for Urban Development Qamar-ul-Islam, none of the Minsters was present, and there were very few officials in the gallery.

Bharatiya Janata Party members grew agitated and appealed to the Speaker to adjourn the House and caution Ministers and officials not to take the House for granted. When the Speaker refused to heed to their demand, they staged a walkout.

Yeddyurappa almost confirms return to BJP

Though Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) chief B.S. Yeddyurappa had earlier indicated that he is averse to the idea of coming back to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, he almost confirmed his return to the party.

During the discussion on the budget, Mr. Yeddyurappa, admitted that “mistake” had been committed by them (meaning BJP leaders and himself as well).

In a confessional mode, he continued: “Three of us shared the power and our mistake facilitated Congress to garner power after seven years. We have learnt a lesson and we will join hands to humble Congress in the coming election to Lok Sabha. Have patience till then.”

This outburst from Mr. Yeddyurappa and his repeated apparent attempts to safeguard the interest of BJP during the discussion on budget took everyone by surprise.

Interestingly, earlier in the day, he had led a walk out of BJP and KJP members, protesting against the absence of ministers and officials during the discussion on the budget.

source:http://www.thehindu.com/

Bangalore:

From his main objective of unseating the BJP government in Karnataka, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa seems to be coming the full-circle as he trained his guns on ruling Congress on Tuesday.

The state assembly witnessed a growing bonhomie between Yeddyurappa, who walked out of BJP and formed his own outfit Karnataka Janata Paksha last year, and his erstwhile party.

"We have made a mistake. Because of our mistake, people of the state have elected a Congress government even though they did not want it. We have learnt our lessons. In coming Lok Sabha elections, we will reduce you to 7-8 seats (out of 28 in Karnataka) and work out a plan and programme to sit there (in treasury benches). Please have patience", he said.

He was reacting to former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar's teaser on how people can forget what BJP did when it was in power (referring to infighting and corruption).

Yeddyurappa's comments were seen as warming up of his relations with BJP which secured a mere 40 seats in the 224-member assembly in the May 5 elections.

KJP bagged six seats but the main plot was that its nearly ten per cent vote share dented BJP's prospects in many constituencies in no small measure with Congress being the chief beneficiary in the multi-cornered contests.

In the afternoon, Yeddyurappa expressed dismay over virtually empty treasury benches and the gallery meant for officials when former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar was speaking on budget discussions and accused Congress of lacking interest in the proceedings and staged a walk-out.

BJP members joined him in the protest.

BJP spokesman and MLA, C T Ravi, reacting to Yeddyurappa's statement, said "at bad times, we separated. What's wrong in uniting again in good times?"

He welcomed Yeddyurappa's statement saying it summed up the necessity for a united front against Congress-led UPA. A section of BJP is pushing for the return of Yeddyurappa into the party-fold.

Meanwhile, there is also talk that BSR Congress, headed by former Minister B Sriramulu, who also broke away from BJP, is knocking at the door of the party for merger.

source:http://zeenews.india.com

Bangalore:

A team of BJP parliament members and state legislators from Karnataka is in New Delhi to lobby with party leaders for the return of former leader BS Yeddyurappa to the party.

The team plans to meet party president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to argue that Yeddyurappa’s return would help the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha election next year.

The group, led by former chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Lok Sabha member from Bangalore North D.B. Chandre Gowda, started campaigning For Yeddyurappa’s return following the BJP’s rout in the May assembly polls.

Others in the team include former ministers Umesh Katti, Basavarj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani and Aravind Limbavali. Most team members reached New Delhi Sunday and some Monday.

The group decided to approach the party’s central leaders directly as it did not receive any positive response from BJP general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka unit Thawarchand Gehlot during his visit here June 29.

Gehlot had said that since Yeddyurappa left the party on his own, he should seek re-entry, which the former chief minister is not willing to do.

Yeddyurappa, largely credited with bringing the BJP to power for the first time in Karnataka in 2008, is reported to be insisting that the central leaders should call him back to the party.

The group has stepped up the campaign following the appointment of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as head of the BJP’s campaign committee for the Lok Sabha poll.

The group’s efforts follow the rout the BJP suffered in May. It won only 40 seats in the 225-member assembly and lost power to the Congress, which bagged 122 seats.

The BJP had won 110 seats in 2008 and formed its first government in Karntaka with Yeddyurappa as chief minister. He was forced to quit in July 2011 over mining bribery charges.

Yeddyurappa left the BJP in December last year to head the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP). The KJP won six seats in the assembly polls.

The BJP has acknowledged that the KJP heavily damaged its chances of retaining power.

Source:http://www.firstpost.com

Bangalore:

The Bhartiya Janatha Party (BJP) core group met on Saturday to decide on the return of Karnataka former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to the party. The BJP said that any decision on the matter would be taken after consulting all parties concerned.

While the return of Yeddyurappa to the BJP might improve the party's base in Karnataka some leaders have expressed reservation and has opposed any plan to woo Yeddyuraapa back to the party.

Though the BJP has accepted that some people bought up the matter of return of Yeddyurappa in the party, it has denied any communication from Yeddyurappa side.

"It is true that some people are in favour of such a move and some aren't. We will be able to act on the matter only after we recieve any communication from Yeddyurappa's side," BJP leader Thawar Chand Gehlot said.

Yeddyurappa had left the party in 2012 and the BJP suffered defeat in the May 5, 2013 Assembly elections in Karnataka post his departure.

Even though Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janatha Paksha failed to make a big splash in the Assembly elections in May and could win just six seats, the former chief minister boasted that he was responsible for BJP's rout in the state. The Lingayat leader on Friday had also ruled out his home coming for now.

Asked if BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had approached him with a proposal for his return to the party, Yeddyurappa told reporters "I will discuss (the issue) at that time. Nobody has approached me so far and hence there is no question of joining BJP or any other party for now," he said.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com/