Will S.M. Krishna ever be comfortable in the BJP?

‘He is not looking for any active leadership role in the State’

The statement of Bharatiya Janata Party’s State unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa that the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna will join the BJP shortly has raised questions whether a veteran Congress leader would be able to work under the former, if he joined the BJP indeed. Another question is, will Mr. Krishna ever be comfortable in the BJP?

Sources in the Congress here, who did not want to be quoted as none of them feel competent to comment on a veteran and high-profile leader like Mr. Krishna, however, said that Mr. Krishna had not yet announced his next move.

Also, Mr. Krishna is learnt to be keen on discussing matters only with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not with the any State party leaders, even as Mr. Yeddyurappa said in Kalaburagi on Saturday that Mr. Krishna had discussed the issue with Mr. Modi.

The sources said that the BJP high command had asked Mr. Yeddyurappa to meet Mr. Krishna and discuss with him with a view to gauging the latter’s mind, even as many Congressmen and BJP members here observe that Mr. Krishna was eyeing a top Constitutional post at the Centre, indicating that he was not looking for any active leadership role in the State.

But what is bothering many Congressmen here, although hypothetically, is whether Mr. Krishna could work under the leadership of Mr. Yeddyurappa in the event of him joining the BJP indeed sooner or later, if he is not accommodated at the national level.

Many observed that there was no compatibility between the two leaders who come from a totally mutually contrasting political culture. It would be highly difficult for Mr. Krishna to make himself comfortable with not just Mr. Yeddyurappa but the entire BJP brand for the fact that many “outsiders” (members of other parties joining the BJP) have turned ornamental faces or figureheads in the saffron organisation.

Will it be acceptable to Mr. Krishna, who has left the Congress after serving it for nearly five decades in the higher echelons of power which many senior Congressmen could not do, is the question haunting the Congressmen here.