After Sister’s Death, SM Krishna’s ‘Induction’ Into BJP Postponed

The ex-Congress leader was going to meet BJP chief Amit Shah, but returned to Bengaluru after his sister’s demise.

File photo of SM Krishna. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/EeSanjeNews l ಈ ಸಂಜೆ)

Former External Affairs minister SM Krishna, who is reportedly slated to join the BJP, postponed his meeting with the party’s national President Amit Shah and returned to Bengaluru on Wednesday following his sister’s death.

Krishna’s sister, Sunitha, passed away on Tuesday night and the veteran politician returned home immediately.

The former Congress leader was slated to meet Amit Shah on Wednesday. The meeting has been postponed to sometime next week and his date of induction into the BJP has not yet been determined, a source in the BJP said.

“The Congress needs no interference and hereditary leadership has always been present. I will go to Delhi and see what happens. It is the people who will have a final say in this matter,” Krishna had told media persons a day before his trip to the national capital.

According to the schedule, Krishna was supposed to hold consultations with BJP national President Amit Shah on Tuesday. This meeting was postponed to Wednesday as Shah flew to Goa to attend Manohar Parrikar’s swearing-in as the Goa Chief Minister.

There was also uncertainty about the veteran leader’s induction into the party on Wednesday, as Shah was scheduled to visit Manipur, where the BJP recently came to power.

Despite the uncertainty, BJP Karnataka unit leaders had, on Tuesday night, announced that Krishna would join the party either on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning depending on Shah’s schedule. This was cancelled following Krishna’s sister’s death.

Krishna resigned from the Congress on 28 January this year, expressing displeasure with the way the party had treated him. The 84-year-old veteran politician first became a Member of Parliament (MP) from Mandya in 1968.

Krishna led the Congress to victory in Karnataka in 1999 and served as the chief minister till 2004. He had also served as the governor of Maharashtra from 2004-2008.

(The article was originally published in The News Minute. )