Bangalore : The BJP central leadership on Tuesday sought more time for taking a final decision on bringing back former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to the party fold.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh and party national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal told the party’s State leaders during a core committee meeting in Mumbai that the party’s parliamentary board will meet soon and take a final call on the Yeddyurappa issue.

According to sources, the central leaders want legal opinion on the status of the various corruption cases against Yeddyurappa, before deciding whether it should make the first move of inviting Yeddyurappa back to the party. It will also dwell on how Yeddyurappa’s supporters in the KJP should be accommodated in the party.

“We told Rajnath Singh and Ram Lal that it was important to bring Yeddyurappa back to the BJP. We also sought that the party central leadership take an early decision in this regard. Singh said he will place our views before the central leaders and get back to us,” former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa, who attended the meeting, told Deccan Herald.

Eshwarappa, party State president Pralhad Joshi, senior leaders D V Sadananda Gowda, Jagadish Shettar, Ananth Kumar, Aravind Limbavali, R Ashoka and Govind Karjol were in Mumbai to attend the state unit core committee meeting held in the presence of Singh.
Core committee meetings

The core committee meetings of the state units of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa were also held in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Singh is said to have told the leaders that there was no need for them to raise the Yeddyurappa issue with the central leadership and if required, the former chief minister will be invited to New Delhi for talks.

Most of the State leaders said it would be advantageous for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in the State, if Yeddyurappa was brought back to the party. Yeddyurappa’s support was important in taking on the Congress government in the State. Besides, KJP had weaned away 10 per cent of the BJP votes in the Assembly polls held in May this year, they said.

The State leaders also briefed Singh and Lal on the party’s preparations for the Lok Sabha polls and the political situation in the State.