Bangalore:
A year after he walked out of the BJP alleging betrayal, BS Yeddyurappa is set to formally return to the party today. The return will also mark the merger of his Karnataka Janata Party or KJP into his old party.
With national elections due by May, Mr Yeddyurappa's return to the BJP assumes greater significance. A powerful leader from the influential Lingayat community, Mr Yeddyurappa won the party its first government in south India six years ago.
Mr Yeddyurappa's return was expected ever since Narendra Modi was named the BJP's presumptive PM in September last year. The 70-year-old politician is a known Modi loyalist.
In November, two days before Mr Modi's rally in Bangalore, posters featuring Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Modi together surfaced in the city.
"The only hope in the country is Narendra Modi because people are disappointed with the Congress rule in the country. That is why they are expecting good governance from him. There is no alternative to him," he said earlier this week.
Last year, Mr Yeddyurappa had declared that the Gujarat chief minister should be the prime ministerial candidate over party veteran LK Advani, who had led a section in the BJP that called for Mr Yeddyurappa's resignation as Chief Minister following charges of corruption in a mining scam. The case against him is still pending.