Bengaluru: Former union external affairs minister S M Krishna has put off his joining the Bharatiya Janata Party following the death of his sister.

The 84-year-old leader, who quit the Congress with which he had associated himself for nearly 50 years, on January 28, was in New Delhi on Tuesday as he was scheduled to join the BJP on Wednesday.

However, his sister Sunitha died on Tuesday night following which he rushed back to Bengaluru on Wednesday morning.

According to sources in the BJP, Krishna is now likely to join the party on March 20 in New Delhi. In fact, Krishna’s scheduled meeting with BJP president Amit Shah also did not take place on Tuesday as the latter was busy attending the installation ceremony of BJP government in Goa.