NEW DELHI, July 27: Basavaraj Bommai, the home minister in the outgoing BS Yediyurappa cabinet and also a Lingayat like his predecessor, will be the new chief minister of Karnataka. He was picked as the leader to succeed Yediyurappa at the BJP legislature party meeting held in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening. Central observers Dharmendra Pradhan and G Kishan Reddy attended the meet to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Basavaraj Bommai, a leader of the politically powerful Lingayat leader like Yediyurappa — was among his close confidantes.
The son of SR Bommai, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Bommai has joined the BJP from the Janata Dal.
For the BJP, filling Yediyurappa’s shoes was a balancing act, given the Lingayats were not in favour of his removal. Earlier, religious leaders of the community and a few who even belonged to the opposition Congress, had spoken in favour of Yediyurappa’s continuation in the post.
Yediyurappa, who stepped down after weeks of anticipation, has said nobody had forced him to resign. In his farewell speech, he spoke of being undergoing acid tests constantly over the last two years.
Sources said Yediyurappa had resigned on July 10. A senior leader close to him had brought his resignation letter to Delhi and handed it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the same day.
Yediyurappa, though, had kept up the suspense over his resignation till the last minute.
Amid resentment against him and his son, the buzz about his exit grew after he visited Delhi earlier this month and met top BJP leaders including Modi.
The BJP’s first Chief Minister in the south, Yediyurappa got his fourth term after a dramatic coup in 2019 that saw the Janata Dal Secular-Congress government topple after 17 rebels resigned. Most joined the BJP and many became part of Yediyurappa’s cabinet. But in none of the four times, he could ever complete a full five-year term.
Basavaraj Bommai may have joined the BJP way back in 2008, but his family’s political history came a full circle only on Tuesday after his name was announced as the next Karnataka Chief Minister. His father, SR Bommai, occupied the position for a brief period in the 1980s, making a whole lot of difference to Indian politics.
Yediyurappa is considered the tallest leader alive today of Karnataka’s Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, which constitutes 16 per cent of the state’s 68 million population. His departure was risky business for the BJP since the party has had strong backing from this segment for long.
An MLA from central Karnataka’s Dharwad district, Bommai was with the Janata Dal United before defecting along with 22 other JDU functionaries.
Ironic since his staunchly socialist father is best remembered for a landmark battle in the Supreme Court — SR Bommai versus Union of India — that he fought after losing his government in Karnataka following defections. The judgment in that case laid down certain guidelines against the misuse of Article 356 of the constitution by the Central government to impose President’s Rule on states with unfriendly governments.
Nevertheless, Basavaraj Bommai has remained a close confidant of Yediyurappa and has risen in the party ranks to last helm the state’s Home Ministry. A mechanical engineer who reportedly began his career with Tata Sons, he has also held the water resources portfolio in the past.
(Manas Dasgupta)
