Basavaraj Bommai
Basavaraj Somappa Bommai // (born 28 January 1960) is an Indian politician and engineer who is curently serving as the MP of Haveri and previously served as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka from 18 July 2021 to 19 May 2023. He is formerly serving Interim Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and He was former member of the Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United). He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the legislature of Karnataka for Shiggaon, from where he has been elected four times since 2008. Between 1998 and 2008, he was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council from Dharwad local authorities. He served as Minister for Water Resources and major and medium irrigation from 2008 to 2013, Home Affairs, Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Cooperation between 2019 and 2021 minister in charge of Haveri and Udupi districts from 2019 to 2021.[1]
Basavaraj Bommai
B. S. Yediyurappa
J. C. Madhuswamy
B. S. Yediyurappa
B. S. Yediyurappa
Bandeppa Kashempur
B. S. Yediyurappa
Sadananda Gowda
Jagadish Shettar
M. B. Patil
Sindhura Rajashekhar
TBA
Dharwad Local Authorities
28 January 1960
Hubli, Mysore State, India
(now Hubballi, Karnataka)
BJP (2008–present)
JD(U) (2004–2008)
Janata Dal (1992–2004)
Chennamma
- S. R. Bommai (father)
In July 2022, Bommai became only the second person from BJP Karnataka, to complete one year as chief minister of the state.[2] During his tenure he was called the "Common Man − CM" by the media and his followers.[3][4][5] Bommai is the son of the former Chief Minister of Karnataka and Union Minister of Human Resource Development, S. R. Bommai, who is widely remembered as the champion for the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, S. R. Bommai v. Union of India, considered one of the most quoted verdicts in the country's political history.[6][7][8] Basavaraj Bommai and his father are only the second father and son duo after H. D. Devegowda and H. D. Kumaraswamy to become the Chief Ministers of Karnataka.[9] In March 2024, he was announced as the BJP candidate for the Haveri constituency in the 2024 General Elections.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Bommai was born on 28 January 1960 to former Chief Minister S. R. Bommai and his wife Gangamma Bommai in Hubli, Mysore State (present-day Karnataka).[11] Bommai is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from KLE Technological University, and started his career with Tata Motors in Pune. He is also an agriculturist and industrialist by profession. He is married to Chennamma and has two children.[12] He belongs to Sadar Lingayat community.[13]
Early political career[edit]
Bommai started his political career as a member of the Janata Dal in 1992. While in Janata Dal, he worked with senior politicians of the Janata Dal like H. D. Deve Gowda and Ramakrishna Hegde.[14] He later also served as a political secretary to then Chief Minister J. H. Patel.[15]
Bommai contested the 1994 Karnataka legislative assembly elections from Hubli Rural constituency as a member of the Janata Dal. However, he lost the election to Jagadish Shettar of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[16]
Bommai was elected as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1998 from Dharwad local authorities constituency as a member Janata Dal. After the dissolution of the Janata Dal, he joined the Janata Dal (United). Later in 2004, he was re-elected from Dharwad local authorities constituency as a member Janata Dal (United).[17]
He quit the Janata Dal (United) in February 2008 and later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the same month of the year.[18]
2024 Lok Sabha Elections[edit]
He won as the BJP candidate from the Haveri Loksabha constituency in the 2024 General Elections.[80]