By raising the stakes in the standoff, the protest leaders are risking another round of confrontation with the police who are unlikely to allow government buildings to be stormed.
The student leaders, who have played a key role in organizing the protests to press for greater electoral reforms, would welcome an opportunity to speak to a Chinese central government official, Lester Shum, vice secretary of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said at a news conference.
Shum demanded that Leung resign by the end of Thursday. He said there was "no room for dialogue" with Leung because he ordered police to fire tear gas at protesters over the weekend, after the street protests started Friday.
Earlier Wednesday, a holiday, protesters kept behind police barricades heckled Leung as he attended a flag-raising ceremony on China's National Day, which marks the founding of communist China in 1949 .
China's government has condemned the student-led protests as illegal.
Chan Kin-man, one of the leaders of another protest movement called Occupy Central, said the protests would continue as long as the Hong Kong government failed to give a satisfactory response to their demands.
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