Former K’taka CM Basavaraj Bommai to make his debut in LS polls

PTI, Mar 14, 2024, 8:18 AM IST

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is all set to make his debut in the Lok Sabha polls, almost a year after the BJP fared poorly in the assembly polls held when he was at the helm.

Currently, an MLA from Shiggaon, he was picked for the Haveri seat, as the sitting MP, Shivakumar Udasi, had earlier announced his retirement from electoral politics after the current term ends.

”Like the people from across the country, the electorate of Haveri and Gadag want to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister one more time and want to make ‘Bharath’ strong,” Bommai said as he expressed confidence that the people of the segment will elect him with a huge margin.

The 64-year-old had stepped in as the chief minister, mainly due to the backing of B S Yediyurappa, who was asked by the BJP central leadership to step down in July 2021.

According to some political analysts, Bommai’s government was not able to counter the Congress narrative to paint his administration as corrupt, a factor that helped the Mallikarjun Kharge-led outfit to win the assembly elections in May last year.

Bommai, who was elected to the assembly for the fourth time in a row, took full responsibility for the party’s defeat after the poll debacle.

When he assumed charge, Bommai had in fact scripted history, becoming only the second father-son duo to have led the state on different occasions, as he started a new innings at the top.

Previously, JD(S) Supremo H D Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy have been CMs of the southern state.

Bommai’s father, S R Bommai, was a Janata Parivar stalwart and had served as the 11th chief minister of Karnataka in the late 1980s.

Born on January 28, 1960 in Hubballi, Bommai is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering. He worked in Tata Motors, Pune for three years and then became an industrial entrepreneur.

Bommai is from the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community to which Yediyurappa also belongs. The community is counted as a key vote-base of the saffron party.

He started his political career with the Janata Dal, and was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council twice (in 1997 and 2003) from Dharwad local authorities constituency. He had also served as Political Secretary to former Chief Minister J H Patel and as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the council.

Bommai quit Janata Dal (United) and joined the BJP in February 2008 and in the assembly elections held later that year, was elected as MLA from Shiggaon constituency in Haveri. He then went on to retain the seat in the 2013, 2018 and 2023 assembly polls.

Married to Chennamma, he has a son and a daughter.