ex-CM Bommai makes successful debut in LS polls, wins from Haveri

Bengaluru, Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai made his successful 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 announced his retirement from electoral politics after the current term ends. Bommai won the seat defeating Anandswamy Gaddadevarmath of Congress by a margin of 43,513 votes on Tuesday, marking his shift to national politics. He secured 7,05,538 votes and Gaddedevarmath 6,62,025. Since the announcement of his candidature, Bommai by and large camped in the constituency strategising and campaigning, and was hardly seen canvassing for party candidates in other segments, despite him being among a BJP's key campaigners, as a former CM. 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 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.