Chikkaballapura: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, July 2, asserted that he will be in office for a full five-year term.
“Yes, I will be. Why do you have the doubt?” the veteran leader said in response to a question by reporters about whether he will be the CM for five years.
There has been speculation within political circles, especially within the ruling Congress, for some time now about the Chief Minister’s change later this year, citing a power-sharing agreement involving Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
However, Shivakumar on Tuesday said there is no discussion on leadership change and stressed on strengthen the hands of CM Siddaramaiah and the party’s government in the state.
On claims by the BJP and JD(S) leaders that the CM will be replaced, he shot back, “Are they our high command?”
“R Ashoka (Leader of Opposition in the Assembly) is a BJP man. B Y Vijayendra (state BJP President) is a BJP man. Chalavadi Narayanaswamy (Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council) is a BJP man. Will you write if they say such things? Should you verify or not?” he asked.
What options I have?: Shivakumar
“What option I have? I have to stand by him, support him (Siddaramaiah). I don’t have any objection to it. Whatever the party high command tells and whatever it desires, it will be fulfilled,” Deputy CM Shivakumar told reporters here in response to a question about the CM’s statement.
He asserted that there is no disgruntlement within the ruling Congress, and when Siddaramaiah is there as the CM, there is no need for any discord on the leadership issue.
Asked whether the party is not backing him and that his supporters are rooting for him to become CM, citing his sacrifice for the party, he said, “I don’t want to discuss anything. Lakhs of workers have supported this party. It is not only D K Shivakumar.”
There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the chief minister’s post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy CM.
There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a “rotational chief minister formula,” according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-a-half years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.
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