The BJP legislature party on Tuesday elected 61-year-old Basavaraj S Bommai as the new chief minister of Karnataka, a day after the exit of BS Yediyurappa from the post.

Considered a close confidante of Yediyurappa, the Lingayat leader from north Karnataka is a mechanical engineer and worked with the Tata Group for some time before taking the plunge into politics. His father, late SR Bommai was the 11th Chief Minister of the State between 1988-89.

Unlike a few of the contenders for the post who are from the Sangh Parivar, Bommai’s roots are from the Janata Dal.

Lingayat community

In the outgoing cabinet, Bommai, who joined the BJP in 2008, was the home minister in the Yediyurappa Ministry.

Also read: Potboiler in Karnataka: In Basavaraj Bommai’s selection, Yediyurappa managed to get his way through

He is a two-time MLC and three-time MLA from Shiggaon in the Haveri district.

Sources close to the party said with the decision to make Bommai the Chief Minister, Yediyurappa has been able to get the High Command to toe his line. For the central leadership, getting a Lingayat leader to the coveted post allows them to continue their hold on the powerful community which consists about 13 per cent of the total population of the State.

So far, 14 Chief Ministers during the last 25 years have come from the Lingayat community. Union ministers, Dharmendra Pradhan and G Kishen Reddy were sent as central observers from the party to supervise the selection of the candidate for the Chief Minister’s post.

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