Siddaramaiah will continue as CM for 5 years, says son Yathindra

NT Correspondent

Mysuru: Rejecting speculations about leadership change in Karnataka, Congress MLC Yathindra on Tuesday asserted that his father Siddaramaiah will continue as Chief Minister and complete a full five years term. Noting that the entire party, legislators and high command is with Siddaramiah, he also welcomed Lokayukta Police clean-chit to the Chief Minister and others in the MUDA site allotment case and said "truth is victorious". "He (Siddaramaiah) has always been strong, when was he weak? His position is also stable, there is no threat to it. But the opposition, as they had no issues to target our government, made false allegations against him by creating a scam that never happened, and tried to tarnish his image, but they have failed," Yathindra told reporters in response to a question.

Asked whether Siddaramaiah will continue and complete a full five years term in office, he said, "definitely he will continue. Who has asked him to step down? Have legislators or high command asked him to step down? No. Instead they all stood by him when allegations were made against him, as they all knew allegations were false. When everyone is with him, he will definitely complete five years."

To a question on discussion regarding power sharing, the MLC said, such things are common, as in every party, as there will be CM aspirants, and there is nothing wrong in it. "Our national president (Mallikarjun Kharge) has said no one should speak about it before the media, so will not speak much," he said. There has been speculation in the state's political circles, especially in the ruling Congress party, about Chief Minister change, later this year, under a "rotational chief minister" or "power-sharing" formula. There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and state party chief D K 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 Chief Minister.

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-half years. To a question about reports regarding Siddaramaiah contesting next Assembly polls too, Yathindra said, he has not discussed with him about it.