BS Yeddyurappa is offered sweets by BJP MP Ananth Kumar; also present are his old BJP colleagues KS Eshwarappa, Sadananda Gowda, Karnataka BJP president Prahalad Joshi
He is back. Complete with followers, crowds and the fireworks that often accompany his public appearances, BS Yeddyurappa today went to the BJP's office in Bangalore, to formally become a member of the party once again.
Mr Yeddyurappa had a bitter parting with the BJP at the end of 2012 and felt that party leaders did not back him when he was asked to step down as the chief minister of Karnataka following charges of corruption against him. He vowed never to return. But today, he told NDTV, "At that time, I did a mistake in leaving the party."
The BJP certainly had a tough time after his departure, coming in a poor third in last year's assembly elections, with Mr Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Party playing spoiler. The 70-year-old certainly helped to build the saffron party in the state, and his strong personality coupled with appeal to Lingayat voters, might have made the BJP decide that they needed him back, making it worthwhile to overlook the charges of graft that he still faces. Ironic, given the anti-corruption stand being taken by the party's prime ministerial candidate,
Narendra Modi.
"The debate on corruption is post corruption... Whether we should have Lokpal or some other measure after corruption has taken place... We need to focus on ensuring that corruption does not take place in the first instance," Mr Modi had said.
It does seem that winnability has triumphed over questions of corruption.
"The BJP never asked Yeddyurappa to leave... He voluntarily stepped down after the Lokayukta report," BJP leader, Suresh Kumar, who has a reputation for honesty, said.
"Ultimately, the ordinary worker, the voter, wanted this to happen, including me, because Yeddyurappa has been the leader of BJP... His coming back has given new strength to BJP cadre and party," he added.
Both Mr Yeddyurappa and the BJP would like to believe that all the bitterness is just water under the bridge and they can be united, going ahead towards the Lok Sabha elections.