Modis elevation should have come earlier: BSY

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa,who left the BJP and created his own party last December,has welcomed

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Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa,who left the BJP and created his own party last December,has welcomed the BJPs elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to the position of chairman of the partys election panel and suggested that an earlier decision on these lines could have brought the BJP to power at the Centre and more states in the last five years.

The elevation of Modi augurs well for the BJP,but it would not open the path for his own return to the BJP,Yeddyurappa said even as some of his close associates suggested that if handled well by the BJP national leadership the Lingayat strongman is inclined to return to the party fold under Modi. I am happy with the position given to Modiji at the national level by the BJP. I heartily welcome it and would like to congratulate him. If such a decision had been taken in 2009 this party would have had more power in the country by now. People all around are happy with this move, Yeddyurappa said.

Yeddyurappa quit the BJP last December after a stand-off with the BJP national leadership and specifically veteran leader L K Advani who severely criticised Yeddyurappas corruption ridden tenure between 2008 and 2011.

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In the period before he quit the BJP to create Karnataka Janata Party,the Yeddyurappa faction within the BJP had frequently stated that a change in the national leadership of the BJP (where Advani who is seen as being close to Yeddyurappas chief rival H N Ananth Kumar was calling the shots) and the induction of Modi would prompt a change of heart in Yeddyurappa.

The decision on inducting Modiji as the chairman of the BJP poll panel has no connections to my own political future. It is not connected to me in any way, Yeddyurappa said when asked whether he would be inclined to rejoining the BJP in the light of changes in leadership. This is going to mark the beginning of a new era in the BJP and the end of an old era, Yeddyurappa said. A close associate of Yeddyurappa,member of the Karnataka legislative council and Modi fan,Lahar Singh Siroya,who is currently suspended from the BJP also welcomed the BJPs decision on Modi.