Yeddyurappa says KJP will be part of NDA

Apparently moving closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) on Friday not only welcomed the former’s decision anointing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate but also said that the party would now be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Speaking to presspersons here soon after the BJP announcement in New Delhi, KJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa said that senior leaders of the party would decide the party’s merger or otherwise with the BJP at a meeting on September 18 and 19.

“I have earlier said that we are open to alliance with any political party. Now that the BJP has endorsed Mr. Modi’s candidature to the top post in the country, we will be part of the NDA,” he said. The party would make every effort to strengthen the NDA, Mr. Yeddyurappa said.

“There is no other leader of Mr. Modi’s stature in any political party. Mr. Modi is the most accepted choice among the people,” Mr. Yeddyurappa said.

Asked whether the September 18-19 meeting would be the last one for the KJP before the merger, Mr. Yeddyurappa just smiled.

The mood at the KJP headquarters was clearly one of jubilation.