I am part and parcel of BJP: S M Krishna

Speaking to reporters here, he said he had become part and parcel of the BJP.

‘’Krishna and the BJP are no different. He is fully aligned with the party. I am sure that situation is right for Mr Modi to come back as Prime Minister for the second time,’’ he said.

On Mahagathbandhan, Krishna asked where was this alliance. It is not even a ‘ghatbandhan’ let alone maha (great). ‘’If we take for example the political happenings in key state Uttar Pradesh, there is ghatbandhan between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party, where does Congress figure. They have only given two seats. This shows how irrelevant congress has become at the national level,’’ he said.

Krishna was speaking after Sumalatha, wife of late Kannada cine star and Congress leader Ambareesh had come to meet him and seek blessings from octogenarian leader.

Sumalatha has decided to contest Lok Sabha election from Janata Dal (S) stronghold Mandya in Karnataka. The seat held by the H D Devegowda led party is left to JD(S) as per poll understanding by its coalition partner Congress.

Krishna said whether BJP support Ms Sumalatha or field its own candidate in Mandya will be decided by the central leadership. ‘’Till then we will see whether to supportSumalatha or not. In the 2018 by-poll in Mandya, BJP was not a serious contestant in this seat. But our candidate garnered 2.5 lakh votes due to his own influence as well as traditional BJP votes. Now Ms Sumalatha has made a proposal to contest elections. BJP will take a final decision on March 18. Whether it will be our own candidate (in Mandya) or (whether BJP support) Ms Sumalatha will be decided by that date,’’ he said.

Sumalatha in the presence of Krishna said she had come to take the blessings of the senior leader. ‘’I have not decided on joining the BJP, nor this matter was discussed by me with Mr Krishna. There has not been any invitation from JD(S) either, whether that party wants me to be its candidate,’’ she said indicating her resolve to contest in the election.

Incidentally, JD(S) which holds the seat in the strong Vokkaliga belt in old Mysuru region has decided to field chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son and cinema actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya segment.