Consensus eludes BJP, successor to Yeddyurappa only on August 3

Consensus eluded the BJP leadership on finding a successor to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who has proposed Lok Sabha member DV Sadananda Gowda for the post.

"The new leader of BJP legislature Party will be elected on August 3 at 11 am," party in-charge of Karnataka Affairs, Dharmendra Pradhan said.

Earlier, central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh held discussions with the Yeddyurappa camp and the rival side led by state unit president KS Eshwarappa for more than four hours, and left for New Delhi.

While Yeddyurappa pushed for the candidature of former state unit president Sadananda Gowda, it was opposed by the group comprising Eshwarappa, party national general secretary HN Ananth Kumar and ministers Jagadish Shettar and R Ashoka.

The anti-Yeddyurappa group initially pushed for Shettar or Ananth Kumar for the post, but it was not acceptable to the former. They then reportedly demanded the deputy chief minister's post for Shettar, which was not acceptable for Yeddyurappa.

There was no convergence as both sides stuck to their guns. It was then decided to take the issue to the central leadership for further consultations, party sources said.