Former K'taka CM Basavaraj Bommai to make his debut in LS polls, to contest from Haveri
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is all set to make his 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 earlier announced his retirement from electoral politics after the current term ends.
"Like the people from across the country, the electorate of Haveri and Gadag want to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister one more time and want to make 'Bharath' strong," Bommai said as he expressed confidence that the people of the segment will elect him with a huge margin.
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(S) 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.
He started his political career with the Janata Dal, and was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council twice (in 1997 and 2003) from Dharwad local authorities constituency. He had also served as Political Secretary to former Chief Minister J H Patel and as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the council.
Bommai quit Janata Dal (United) and joined the BJP in February 2008 and in the assembly elections held later that year, was elected as MLA from Shiggaon constituency in Haveri. He then went on to retain the seat in the 2013, 2018 and 2023 assembly polls.
Married to Chennamma, he has a son and a daughter.
VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: “There is no need for much preparation because I represented these districts- both Haveri and Gadag which come under this Lok Sabha, as an MLC from local bodies for 12 years,” says former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai (@BSBommai) on BJP giving… pic.twitter.com/73EtV7wiAI
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
