Bengaluru| Basavaraj Somappa Bommai was on Tuesday elected as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, succeeding B.S. Yediyurappa will be replaced. Basavaraj, a strong Lingayat leader from North Karnataka, was elected leader in a legislature party meeting held at a private hotel. The central observers were Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and G. In a meeting chaired by Kishan Reddy, he was elected the leader of the legislature party.
Yediyurappa proposed Bommai’s name and the BJP MLAs agreed to it.
Bommai will take oath as the 30th Chief Minister at the Raj Bhavan at 3.20 pm on Wednesday.
Born on January 28, 1960, Bommai held the portfolios of Home, Law and Parliamentary Affairs in the Yediyurpa government. He has also served as the Minister of Water Resources and Cooperation. Bommai’s decision to remain with the party after Yeddyurappa left and launch the KJP and his ability to gain Yeddyurappa’s trust after his return to the BJP is said to have worked for him.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal leader S.R. Bommai’s son Basavaraj had joined the BJP in 2008 from the Janata Parivar and Yediyurappa had also lauded his ability to defend the party.
A graduate in mechanical engineering and an agriculturist and industrialist by profession, he started his political career with the Janata Parivar. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1998 and 2004 from the constituency of Dharwad Local Authority.
After joining the BJP in February 2008, when Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister, he was elected to the Assembly from the Shiggaon constituency in the Haveri district.
Widely acclaimed for his knowledge of irrigation matters in the state and contribution to myriad irrigation schemes, he is also credited with implementing India’s first 100 percent pipe irrigation project at Shiggaon, Haveri.
