Bengaluru: It is a known fact that SM Krishna, a seasoned politician bid goodbye to the Congress and joined the BJP a few years ago. The move was expected as SM Krishna felt he was being sidelined in the grand old party.

Now with the elections fast approaching, the BJP wants to make use of his experience to plunder as many votes as possible. R Ashoke, a senior leader of the BJP and a former deputy CM, reportedly met the veteran and sought his participation in active campaigning.

Sources say that the BJP wants to capitalise on SMK’S expertise in the Old Mysuru region, which is a stronghold of the JD(S). Dominated by Vokkaligas, the JD(S) sits pretty as it knows it vote base cannot be tampered with. It is this factor that the BJP is most concerned about. Therefore, the BJP is gung-ho about the prospects of SM Krishna bringing in rich dividends. This stems from the fact that he himself is a Vokkaliga.

A few days ago, BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa himself had met SM Krishna and sought his cooperation for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“SM Krishna is a very senior leader. He commands respect from all people, irrespective of their caste. His participation in the campaigning will certainly boost the prospects of BJP winning the polls. He joined the BJP, purely out of his love for Narendra Modi and he was of the firm opinion that he would deliver. On early occasions, Narendra Modi had expressed his desire to campaign and he is only fulfilling it,” says Sreenath Seshadri, a BJP spokesperson.

SM Krishna was in the Manmohan Singh cabinet was holding the External Affairs portfolio. He was also the governor of Maharasthra and much, much before that, he was the chief minister of Karnataka.

On his part, SM Krishna has accepted the invite.