Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday dropped the first hint that he could be on his way out and that he would abide by the BJP’s decision on his future.

The veteran leader also urged religious leaders and party workers not to kick up a storm over whatever decision is taken on July 25.

Emerging from a temple where he conducted a ritual in the morning, Yediyurappa, 78, told reporters that he would go by what the party leadership announces on Sunday.

“I will start my work on July 26 based on what the national leadership would say on July 25. There is a special programme to commemorate two years (of Yediyurappa’s current tenure) on July 26. After that I will go by what the national leadership says,” he said.

This was a departure from the Lingayat strongman’s assertions so far that he would remain in power for the rest of his term. Even his die-hard supporters that include pontiffs of Lingayat mutts have been throwing their weight behind the biggest leader from the community.

Yediyurappa also made it clear that he would continue to work for the party. “It is my duty to strengthen the party and bring it back to power.”

In view of the possibility of massive disapproval of any move to remove him, Yediyurappa urged religious leaders and BJP workers to desist from creating any issues. But Lingayat seers continued to flow to his office in Bangalore, urging him to stay on and warning the BJP that it would pay a heavy price if he was replaced.

“All the pontiffs and party workers should cooperate and not create any issue. No one should issue any statements on my behalf from today,” Yediyurappa said, repeating a message he had tweeted late on Wednesday.

He acknowledged the fact that the BJP had allowed him to continue in office even after he crossed 75. While the BJP generally does not allow those above 75 to remain in electoral politics, the party had been left with no choice on Yediyurappa’s continuance when he engineered the defections of 17 lawmakers of the Janata Dal Secular-Congress coalition in 2019 to regain power.

His age is one of the factors for the party to take a call on his exit. But it was the sustained rebellion against Yediyurappa that harangued the BJP and made his replacement inevitable. Although Yediyurappa and his supporters tried hard to ensure that he stays in office till the 2023 Karnataka elections, the party could not ignore the mounting dissidence.

A leaked audio clip purportedly featuring the voice of state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel sparked the latest round of developments in what seems to be the endgame for Yediyurappa who has been a force to reckon with for over two decades. While Kateel denied any role in the audio clip, a male voice resembling his is heard saying he has three alternative names for the chief minister’s post.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, the party’s Karnataka in-charge, said on Thursday when asked in Delhi about a possible leadership change: “My namaskar (greetings) to you all. We will sit together someday and discuss. We will also sit together and have tea.”

Once the final word on Yediyurappa’s future is said, the BJP would have the massive task of placating dominant communities in picking a successor. A section of the Lingayat pontiffs has insisted that only a person from their community should succeed Yediyurappa. But party sources confirmed there were other options.

The BJP could look at an alternative outside the two dominant communities, the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas. The names that are doing the rounds in this category are Union minister for coal, mines and parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi and Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, both of whom are RSS favourites and Brahmins.

The two Lingayat names being spoken about are Aravind Bellad and Murugesh Nirani, while deputy chief minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan is an option from the Vokkaliga community that has thus far stood by the Congress and the JDS.

Since one of the major grouses in the BJP against Yediyurappa is said to be his “soft” approach on minority communities, the BJP also has a hardliner in national general secretary C.T. Ravi on the list of probables.

Congress post

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday appointed Ganesh Godiyal as the Uttarakhand party unit president and former chief minister Harish Rawat as the chairman of the campaign committee.

The appointment of Rawat indicates he will be the face of the party and the probable chief ministerial candidate in the election-bound hill state.

All the election-related committees were also announced.