Basavaraj Somappa Bommai has been chosen as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, succeeding B.S. Yediyurappa.
A strong Lingayat leader from North Karnataka, Bommai will be sworn in as the 30th Chief Minister at the Raj Bhavan at 11 am on Wednesday July 28.
Born on January 28, 1960, Bommai held the portfolio of Home, Law, and Parliamentary Affairs in the Yediyurappa government. He was also the in-charge minister of Haveri District and Udupi. He has also served as Water Resources and Cooperation Minister. Bommai’s decision to stay with the party when Yediyurappa left and launched his KJP and his ability to gain Yediyurappa’s confidence after his return to the BJP are said to have worked for him.
The son of former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal leader S.R. Bommai. He is married to Chennamma and has a son and a daughter. Now, he also joined the class of father-son duo CMs to serve Karnataka.
Bommai had joined the BJP from the Janata Parivar in 2008, and though being a blue-eyed boy of Yediyurappa, his ability to defend the party is appreciated by all.
A graduate in Mechanical Engineering and agriculturist and industrialist by profession, he started his political career with the Janata Parivar. He was elected a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1998 and 2004 from Dharwad local authorities’ constituency. He left Janta Dal and won the assembly election from Dharwad as a BJP candidate. He was also appointed the minister for water resources in 2008. In 2018 he again got elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He was appointed as the Minister of Cooperation in Yediyurappa led BJP government in 2019. He subsequently went on to become the Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Home Affairs in the Karnataka government.
Apart from political activities, Basavaraj Bommai is the founder of Arunodaya Co-operative Society. He was once the Chairman of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, Dharwad. He was the first minister who converted his home in the Shiggaon constituency into a Covid care centre and provided free medical facilities to Covid patients.
Widely acclaimed for his knowledge of irrigation matters in the State and contributions to innumerable irrigation schemes, he is also credited with implementing India’s first 100 per cent piped irrigation project at Shiggaon in Haveri.
With the inputs from IANS
