File photo of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa
Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has opted out of the race for securing a berth in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, and expressed his willingness to take up organisational responsibility in his home state.
"As you expressed in general, I voluntarily and wholeheartedly offer my willingness to work towards strengthening the party in Karnataka," Mr Yeddyurappa, 72, wrote in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister-elect today.
Mr Yeddyurappa was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Shimoga parliamentary constituency, and was being touted as a strong contender for a ministerial slot in the next government. A pep talk by Mr Modi to a delegation of BJP MPs from Karnataka on May 18 forced him to withdraw from the race.
The Prime Minister-designate reportedly asked the contingent not to lobby for ministerial berths, and, instead, concentrate on reviving the party in the southern state.
Mr Yeddyurappa's decision is expected to facilitate Mr Modi's task of constituting a relatively clean and taint-free ministry.
The BJP, in a reversal of fortunes, bagged 17 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, a state which had voted them out of power just a year ago. The verdict was attributed to the return of Mr Yeddyurappa, a powerful Lingayat leader, and B Sriramulu, a confidant of the Reddy brothers from Bellary.
Mr Yeddyurappa, who was chief minister of Karnataka from 2008 to 2011, was forced to resign from his post after the state Lokayukta report indicted him in a mining scam. He floated his own party - Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) - a year later.
In the assembly elections held in Karnataka last year, the BJP was routed, but the KJP fared worse, winning just six seats in an assembly with a strength of 224.
Mr Yeddyurappa merged his party with the BJP in January, despite resistance from leaders such as LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj.