Policemen catch up with the latest outside the residence of BS Yeddyurappa in Bangalore on Thursday. (PTI)

July 28: Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa today decided to quit following a night-long shove from the central BJP leadership, but his bid to stay on till July 31 has complicated the selection of a successor.

Although the party asked him to “resign immediately”, Yeddyurappa has held the move back by three days to try and ensure a person of his choice is installed as chief minister. His confidants confirmed he plans to hand in his papers to governor H.R. Bhardwaj only on Sunday.

Senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh are to reach Bangalore tomorrow with an “open mind” to get a sense about the most suitable successor. They are expected to attend a legislative party meeting, scheduled for 11am, and fly back to Delhi with a shortlist so that the central leadership can take the final call.

Although the party is willing to grant Yeddyurappa a say in the selection, some leaders are against accepting all his wishes. They are angry at the chief minister’s defiance at yesterday’s late-night meeting in Delhi, when he is said to have shouted at central leaders and threatened to split the party if forced to quit.

After Yeddyurappa walked out of the meeting and returned to Bangalore this morning, the party summoned a meeting of its highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board. It “advised” the chief minister to quit “immediately”, spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

But later in the day, asked when Yeddyurappa would quit, Prasad evaded a direct reply, saying: “He will accept the party’s decision.”

Party leaders accepted they could not afford to select a successor against Yeddyurappa’s wishes as that could lead to rebellion. The BJP is searching for someone acceptable to Yeddyurappa as well as others.

So far, initial discussions have thrown up a few names: MP Anand Gowda, who has emerged as the front-runner, and ministers R. Ashok, V.S. Acharya and Suresh Kumar.

Yeddyurappa is said to be backing Gowda, the MP from Udupi Chikmagalur. Gowda is a leader of the Vokkaliga community and therefore not a threat to Yeddyurappa, who is from the Lingayat community.

Former Union minister Ananth Kumar, known to be close to senior party leader L.K. Advani, is said to be in the race but his candidature would be strongly opposed by arch-foe Yeddyurappa.

The chief minister is said to have insisted on the inclusion of several of his trusted lieutenants in the new cabinet. He is expected to attend tomorrow’s legislative party meeting.

Yeddyurappa had been summoned to Delhi after the Karnataka Lokayukta’s report, handed in yesterday, charged him with receiving kickbacks of Rs 30 crore from a mining company.

Sources said the chief minister had a heated exchange with central party leaders last night. “He was screaming and shouting, threatening that the BJP will be finished in south India if he quits,” a source said.

Yeddyurappa returned to Bangalore in a defiant mood and, ignoring the high command’s diktat not to call any meeting of party legislators, went into a huddle with around 30 MLAs and eight ministers.

While the number was a far cry from the Yeddyurappa camp’s original strength of around 60 before the Lokayukta report was leaked a week ago, the attendance surprised even the BJP strongman’s rivals.

Those who rallied behind Yeddyurappa virtually ignored party orders against participating in any such meetings. The BJP has warned all party members with strict disciplinary action if they back Yeddyurappa and help him stir a rebellion.

State home minister Ashok said there was “absolute unity” in the party and no problem was expected in picking the next chief minister.

State Congress president G. Parameshwar said the chief minister’s resignation was long overdue.

“We’ve been asking for his resignation for almost two years now. Our demand now is that criminal prosecution on the basis of the Lokayukta report should begin immediately,” he said.