Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in the state will last its full five-year term. His statement comes days after reports said there was growing discord between the two parties.

“This government will survive for five years,” Siddarmaiah told reporters. “This government is totally stable and we will deliver as per the common minimum programme agreed upon by both parties...We are one. The Karnataka government is moving in the right direction, the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] should stop worrying about this and worry about promises made by them and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parliamentary elections are coming.”

Last week, reports said Siddaramaiah had suggested that he would become the chief minister once again. On Friday, he said the reports were “baseless, unfounded and speculative stories”. “I had said that the Congress will come to power again after five years and I will become chief minister once again,” the Congress leader clarified, according to The Indian Express.

Siddaramaiah said the state government would be expanded in the third week of September when seven ministers – six Congress leaders and one Janata Dal (Secular) leader – will be inducted into the Cabinet. Siddaramaiah heads the coordination committee of the two parties.

“The committee has agreed to appoint chairpersons to 30 boards and corporations, with 20 of them from the Congress and 10 from the Janata Dal (Secular),” the former chief minister said.

The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) had tied up to form the state government in May. Although his party won more seats in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah had to give way for HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) as chief minister.