Chief Minister-designate Basavaraj Bommai visited the Bhagawan See Maruthi Temple on Palace Road in Bengaluru before heading to Raj Bhavan to take oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka on July 28.
The BJP MLA was chosen to succeed B.S. Yediyurappa at a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party in a hotel in Bengaluru on July 27. The process was overseen by BJP Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh, State unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, central observers Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and G. Kishan Reddy.
Mr. Bommai has been elected to the Karnataka Assembly from Shiggaon in Haveri district since 2008. Prior to that, he was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council from 1998 representing the Janata Dal (United). He joined the BJP in 2008.
He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology (KLE Technological University) in Hubballi.
Bommai swearing in arrangements
The choice of Mr. Bommai meets the long-pending demand for a person from north Karnataka to be at the helm of affairs in the State. Mr. Bommai is only the second Chief Minister whose father (S.R. Bommai) also served in the same post, just as JD(S) father-son duo of H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Basavaraj Bommai: A man of the middle-path in a right-wing party
The decision on the next Chief Minister came just a day after 78-year-old Mr. Yediyurappa resigned with tears in his eyes, at an event on July 26 organised to mark the second anniversary of his tenure — a bumpy ride marked by dissidence, allegations of corruption and nepotism. Mr. Bommai, in contrast, will be seen not only as relatively young and educated, but also non-controversial.
Mr. Bommai thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party, besides Mr. Yediyurappa whom he described as his mentor.
“I have been chosen unanimously by the BJPLP. I will not fail the expectations of Mr. Modi, the party, Mr. Yediyurappa, and will give a pro-people administration. I will take all measures to improve the health of the flagging economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. I will serve the people with the blessings of the elders,” said Mr. Bommai after being chosen to succeed Mr. Yediyurappa on July 27.
