By Venkatesh Raghavan
Bengaluru: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre did manage to cater to the caste equations that matter for Karnataka by choosing Basavaraj Somappa Bommai as a successor to outgoing Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa. The Lingayat leader was sworn in to office at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot.
Though Bommai was regarded as the favourite for the hot seat ever since Yediyurappa’s probable resignation started doing the rounds in the State’s rumour mills, it is known in the political circles as well as people of the state that Bommai has a leaning towards Nehruvian socialist school of thought.
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Though unrooted in saffron ideology, and happening to be the son of SR Bommai, a Janata Party leader who was chosen to be on the hot seat by veteran late Ramkrishna Hegde in the late eighties, Basavaraj had continued to be the hot favourite owing to his accommodating nature that stresses on consensus politics. He is also known for his willingness to walk the extra mile to comprehend issues and debacles that people are faced with before arriving at an informed decision. He was handling the portfolios of the Ministry of Home and also Parliamentary Affairs in the Yediyurappa cabinet.
Leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah sent in a congratulatory message early on Wednesday expressing his hope to work and contribute constructively towards the governance of the state under the stewardship of the new Chief Minister. However, from the Opposition benches, senior Congress leader RV Deshpande was the sole attendee to the swearing in ceremony.
Soon after taking over as Chief Minister Bommai announced that tackling the floods in the state, besides containing the Covid19 crisis, will be his top priority. Laying emphasis on alleviation of the plight of poor farmers, he said, our government will also strive to ensure affordable health care among all communities.
Among other measures, the newly sworn in Chief Minister also announced that his government has envisaged a plan for awarding scholarships to the children of farmers in the state. “We have earmarked an amount of INR 1,000 crores for this project,” he added. Bommai thanked the people of the state and also the BJP Central leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for giving him an opportunity to serve the state.
Bommai also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reposing faith in him. “I assure you an efficient and transparent good governance in Karnataka which are your ideals and also assure your vision of “vibrant Bharat” will be fulfilled in Karnataka,” he tweeted in reply to Modi’s tweet. The Prime Minister while congratulating Bommai, had tweeted that the new CM brought with him rich legislative and administrative experience. “I am confident he will build on the exceptional work done by our Government in the state. Best wishes for a fruitful tenure,” the PM had tweeted.
