Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday asserted that he would complete the full-term as Chief Minister.

He also said he would contest the next Assembly elections. This was contrary to his earlier decision of retiring from poll politics by 2018.

“I have decided to withdraw my decision of retiring from active politics from 2018 as I want to give a fitting reply to the BJP, which is talking of freeing Karnataka from the Congress, by driving away the saffron party from the State,” the Chief Minister said in reply to a debate in the Legislative Assembly on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to the joint session of the State legislature.

Dispelling the BJP’s claims that he may not continue as Chief Minister, he declared that he will continue for the remaining 39 months.

Taking exception to the Opposition’s allegations that his government was lethargic, Mr. Siddaramaiah reeled out figures to show that the collection of State’s own tax resources had touched a healthy 80 per cent of the target by January itself.

The State also topped the entire southern region in the collection of commercial taxes.

He said the outcome of the Delhi Assembly elections was a “warning bell to a publicity-crazy party like the BJP as the people have already started losing faith in its administration”