Bangalore: The much hyped Yeddyurappa - Narendra Modi alliance seems to have hit a road block. It has been almost two weeks, since the former Karnataka Chief Minister and Karnataka Janatha Party (KJP) chief BS Yeddyurappa announced his support to the NDA to back Modi as PM. He is still waiting for a word from the BJP about the modalities. But, the BJP central leadership is not showing any interest in taking the talks forward.
Yeddyurappa was also hoping to merge his party with the BJP to reclaim the party, which he single-handedly built and brought to power in 2008. According to some close aides of Yeddyurappa, the BJP is not showing much interest in the merger or a seat sharing arrangement with the KJP.
The RSS which has brokered a deal between him and Modi is also worried about the political implications of such a deal. Even though Narendra Modi desperately wants Yeddyurappa's backing in the coming Lok Sabha polls to win more seats from Karnataka, he is not ready to invite him openly, fearing Yeddyurappa's corrupt image might spoil his supposedly clean image.
The BJP is ready to take Yeddyurappa back into the party fold without any commitments. But, Yeddyurappa is demanding leader of the opposition post for him, an MLC post for his close confidante Shobha Karandlaje and a bigger say in the selection of candidates in the coming elections.
The BJP patriarch LK Advani is still opposing Yeddyurappa's return to the party. The BJP national general secretary and Yeddyurappa's bête-noire in Karnataka BJP, Ananthkumar is also against the merger.
Most of the KJP leaders are also not interested in returning to the BJP. They are forcing Yeddyurappa to forge an alliance with the NDA. Some are even demanding that the KJP should go with the Congress.
Yeddyurappa was removed as Karnataka Chief Minister in July 2011. He quit the BJP to form his own party KJP in November 2012. His party won six Assembly seats and secured 10 per cent votes in the last Assembly elections.
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