Informal efforts to bring back the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa into the Bharatiya Janata Party fold gained momentum on Thursday with three MPs and over 10 legislators of the party holding a meeting under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council D. V. Sadananda Gowda, to decide on how to convince the party leadership to woo him.
The meeting is learnt to have been held at the residence of BJP MP D.B. Chandre Gowda in Bangalore.
A former Minister, who attended the meeting, told The Hindu that the gathering was of the view that Mr. Yeddyurappa’s inclusion in the party was essential to put up an impressive performance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Pointing out that the Mr. Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka Janata Paksha had polled nearly 10 per cent of the votes during the recently held Assembly elections, the meeting is learnt to have the felt that this vote share would get added to the BJP’s if the party succeeds in getting him back to its fold.
The meeting reportedly decided to ensure that it does not violate party discipline in its efforts to woo Mr. Yeddyurappa. The meeting has authorised a group of leaders such as Mr. Sadananda Gowda, Umesh V. Katti, Basavaraj Bommai and the former speaker K.G. Bopaiah to make appropriate measures to impress upon the party State and Central leadership about the need to get Mr. Yeddyurappa into the party fold.
