B S Yeddyurappa tells Narendra Modi he would work to strengthen party

BANGALORE: Karnataka BJP strongman B S Yeddyurappa, reportedly a ministerial aspirant, has written to Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, pledging to work for strengthening the party in the state. Yeddyurappa was part of a group of BJP leaders from Karnataka which met Modi last week apparently to push their case for ministerial berths but they were reportedly told not to lobby and to work to strengthen the party instead.

"...As you expressed in general, I voluntarily and wholeheartedly offer my willingness to work towards strengthening of the party in Karnataka," Yeddyurappa, who won the Shimoga seat by a whopping margin of 3.62 lakh votes, said in a letter to Modi.

Yeddyurappa recalled Modi's advice during their meeting that since the expectations and aspirations from the new government were "too high" across the country, at least some capable leaders should come forward to strengthen the party in their states. The Lingayat strongman is facing graft cases that would put paid to his chances of getting a ministerial berth until he was cleared of the charges.

Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda, state BJP President Prahlad Joshi and party six-time MP Ananth Kumar were part of the delegation, apart from Yeddyurappa, that met Modi who reportedly told them not to lobby for berths.