Bangalore: A day after the official announcement of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s homecoming, the formalities for the merger of the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) commenced on Friday.

Yeddyurappa and three KJP legislators submitted a letter to Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa stating that they had unanimously resolved to merge their party with the BJP.
The day began with four of the six KJP MLAs holding a legislature party meeting and resolving that the KJP should be merged with the BJP.

Besides Yeddyurappa, MLAs Vishwanath Patil (Bailahongal), Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli (Bidar-North) and U B Banakar (Hirekerur) attended the meeting and signed the resolution. Two other MLAs, B R Patil (Aland) and Guru Patil (Shahapur), abstained.

As two-thirds of the elected members (four in this case) have supported the parties’ merger, the crossover will not attract provisions of the anti-defection law.  Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Yeddyurappa said: “I have handed over our resolution to the Speaker. We have appealed to the Speaker to recognise KJP legislators as BJP legislators and provide them seats in the House along with the BJP group”.

The former chief minister said that B R Patil and Guru Patil will also submit their letters to the Speaker soon.

However, the two MLAs told reporters that they would take a final decision after consulting the voters in their respective constituencies.

Thimmappa said he would now require a confirmation letter from the BJP on the merger before he takes the next step. On the BJP wresting the position of the principal opposition party from the Janata Dal-Secular due to the increase in numbers post merger,

Thimmappa said he would consult legal and Constitutional experts before deciding on the issue.