SM Krishna to join BJP, announces BS Yeddyurappa

New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Monday said the former external affair minister SM Krishna, who quit the Congress party in January, will soon join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"He (SM Krishna) is going to join our party as early as possible," Yeddyurappa told media after a meeting with Krishna.

Krishna had tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party on January 28, alleging that the grand old party had sidelined him citing his old age.

Expressing pain over his exit from the Congress, Krishna had said, "What pained me was how the Congress sidelined a loyal worker lime me and cited my age for the same. I toured the state during the last elections and nobody thought I was old. Suddenly, they have discovered that I am old and need rest. I felt the Congress did not need me."

The 84-year-old first became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1968 from Mandya.Krishna had served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004.

He also served as the governor of Maharashtra for the period 2004-2008. He served as the minister for external affairs during the UPA-II regime led by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh.