BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday, just hours before meeting Congress high command leaders in New Delhi, asserted that there is no question of a leadership change and reiterated that he will remain Chief Minister for the full five-year term.

He further stated that the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections will be contested under his leadership as CM, sending a clear message from the national capital to Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and his supporters, who have been pushing for a leadership change.

Siddaramaiah also dismissed reports of a high command-level pact to hand over the Chief Minister’s post to D K Shivakumar after two and a half years.

“If there was a pact would I have said I will be the CM for five years recently? Is the CM seat vacant? Why do you spread grapevine and make speculations?,” he shot back at reporters’ queries.

“One or two MLAs may have said, out of love and affection, that D K Shivakumar should become the CM. Those were their personal opinions, not the party’s decision. In fact, many more MLAs have said that I should continue as Chief Minister,” he stated.