Bengaluru: State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday welcomed former Union Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna who has joined BJP in the presence of BJP national president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“I have been in touch with Amit Shah since the last nine months. Both of us used to discuss lot of issues but I never thought of joining BJP,’’ Krishna told reporters.
Krishna quit Congress on January 29, 2017. He was associated with Congress for 46 years. “Congress leadership has tortured me mentally. It was a mental torture to remain in Congress,’’ he said.
The veteran Congress leader has served as Chief Minister of Karnataka and Governor of Maharashtra. “I was on the way to a tennis court when I received a phone call from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They made me Union Minister of External Affairs without consulting me. They have also removed me as External Minister without consulting me,’’ he said.
Coming down heavily on dynasty in Congress, he said the dynasty would be apt for Congress if the leadership has the quality, the capability and qualification. “There is no dynasty problem in BJP,’’ he said.
He appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetize high value currency notes and surgical strike on Pakistan. “I as a Congress man honestly appreciated demonetization of high value currency notes. One needs guts and courage to take such decision. Demonetisation doesn’t mean eradication of black money but it has helped to some extent,’’ he said.
He said BJP would win the byelections to the two Assembly segments – Nanjangud and Gundlupet. “I know the capacity of Srinivas Prasad. Congress had no minimum courtesy to consult him before dropping him from the Cabinet. Once, the then Chief Minister Devaraj Urs and me had tried to defeat him in an election but in vain,’’ he said.
Earlier, B S Yeddyurappa, BJP state president, has welcomed Krishna into BJP. “The BJP in Karnataka has become strong with Krishna joining it. I have requested him to campaign in Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly segments in support of BJP candidates,’’ Yeddyurappa said.
