Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) President B.S. Yeddyurappa on Tuesday categorically ruled out any possibility of his party merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alleged that some BJP leaders were attempting to divide the KJP by wooing second-rung leaders on the premise that Mr. Yeddyurappa’s return to BJP was certain.
“Some BJP leaders, who were responsible for my ouster from BJP have been spreading false rumours about the merger thereby sending wrong signals to the cadres. I would like to make it clear to all that KJP would retain its identity and be a part of the National Democratic Alliance to support Narendra Modi’s candidature to the post of the Prime Minister,” Mr. Yeddyurappa told presspersons here.
Cancels trip abroad
Meanwhile, Mr. Yeddyurappa has cancelled his scheduled trip to the United Kingdom from November 7 where he was to unveil a statue of Basaveshwara. Though he wanted to fight against ineffective administration of the ruling Congress, it is believed that he wanted to be in station during the BJP rally wherein its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would be attending here on November 17. The CBI special court had last week permitted his England visit between November 7 and 26.
To a question whether he got any response from NDA Chairman L.K. Advani for his recent letter expressing willingness to be an ally, Mr. Yeddyurappa said so far he has not. He said he would wait and watch when asked about the course of action if NDA does not respond. To another question whether he would participate in the November 17 rally of Narendra Modi, he said he would decide later if invited.
The party has finalised a list of about 10 Lok Sabha constituencies where its presence was stronger to BJP and would seek those seats as an ally of NDA. “We are not adamant in bargaining; if a BJP candidate has more chances of winning, we may leave the seat to that party,” he said.
‘G’ category sites
On the Justice Padmaraj Committee report on ‘G’ category sites, Mr. Yeddyurappa wondered why the committee chose discretionary allotments made during the tenure of only himself, H.D. Kumaraswamy and N. Dharam Singh. During S.M. Krishna’s tenure, highest number of discretionary allotments (320) were made. The probe should cover all discretionary quota allotments, he said while saying such allotments were not illegal.
