Siddaramaiah reiterates high command’s call on CM post

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday reiterated that the Congress high command’s decision will be final on his continuation in office, and said he would present two more State budgets if permitted.

Expressing confidence that the Congress will win both Assembly bypolls in the State, he said their outcome has no bearing on his tenure as the CM.

“We will win the bypolls in both constituencies. I will begin campaigning on March 30. On March 30–31, I will be in Bagalkot; April 1–2 in Davanagere South; April 3–4 again in Bagalkot. I will go to Kerala for campaigning on April 5, and on April 6, either Bagalkot or Davanagere South,” Siddaramaiah told reporters in response to a question.

When asked whether the bypoll results could be seen as a verdict on his Government’s 2.5 years in office, he said Congress would win both the bypolls and the 2028 Assembly elections in the State.

“In earlier by-elections to three seats (Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna in November 2024), the Opposition BJP-JD(S) lost all of them. They earlier held two of those seats. Wasn’t that a signal that people want Congress? The polls are yet to be held, and the results are yet to come. In any election, Congress will certainly win. We will also win in 2028,” he said.

Asked whether the bypoll results would put an end to speculation about a change in CM, Siddaramaiah said the two issues were unrelated.

On his recent remark that he would present two more budgets if permitted by the high command, he said, “Let them give permission; we will see. Ours is a high command party, and everyone should abide by its decisions.”

Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented his record 17th Budget on March 6.

Speculation over a leadership change within the ruling party has intensified after the Congress Government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.

The buzz has been fuelled by a reported power-sharing arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at the time of Government formation in 2023.

Bypolls to the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9.

The elections were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs HY Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively. The CM also said there was no dissent in the Davanagere South party unit and that all issues had been resolved.

He said Sadiq Pailwan, who had entered the fray as a rebel candidate, had “retired” from the contest.

Siddaramaiah also defended the Government’s decision to replace the marks system for the third language in the SSLC (Class 10) examination with a grading system that will not affect a student’s overall result, from the current academic year.

“No decision has been taken on a two-language policy in education. What we have decided is that the third language, such as Hindi, should not be compulsory for marks,” he said.

“Earlier, exams were for a total of 625 marks, including 100 marks for the third language. Following this decision, the total will be 525 marks from this academic year,” he added.

Responding to concerns raised by private educational institutions, the CM said, “The Government has taken a decision. For every decision, there will be both supporters and opponents. There is rarely unanimous acceptance. Let us see.”

Clarifying that the move was not against Hindi, he said, “We are not opposed to learning Hindi, but exams in the language should not be compulsory for marks. Even during our time in school, Hindi was not compulsory. We studied the language, but exams were not mandatory-perhaps that is why I did not learn it well.”

On the Mysuru police recently unearthing a drug network, Siddaramaiah said his Government was committed to tackling the drug menace and making the State drug-free.

“Efforts are on in this direction. Whatever the links, we will investigate and ensure that the culprits are punished,” he added.