• Basavaraj Bommai took oath as the new chief minister of Karnataka on July 28. 

• The 61-year-old leader was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.

• Bommai was minister for home affairs, law, parliamentary affairs and legislature in B.S. Yediyurappa’s council of ministers which was dissolved on July 26.

• The Karnataka BJP legislature party elected him as its new leader to succeed Yediyurappa.

• His father S.R. Bommai was a Janata Parivar stalwart who had served as the 11th chief minister of Karnataka in the late 1980s.

• Previously, JDS Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy have been CMs of Karnataka during different periods.

What is the S.R Bommai case?

• S.R. Bommai was the chief minister of the Janata Dal government in Karnataka. His government was dismissed on April 21, 1989 under Article 356 of the Constitution and President’s rule was imposed.

• The dismissal was on the grounds that the Bommai government had lost majority following large-scale defections. Governor  P. Venkatasubbaiah refused to give Bommai an opportunity to test his majority in the Assembly despite the latter presenting him with a copy of the resolution passed by the Janata Dal Legislature Party.

• Bommai went to the Supreme Court against the governor’s decision to recommend President’s rule.

• In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court put an end to the arbitrary dismissal of state governments under Article 356 by spelling out restrictions. “The power conferred by Article 356 is a conditioned power; it is not an absolute power to be exercised by the discretion of the president,” it said.

• The verdict said the President should exercise the power only after his proclamation (imposing his/her rule) is approved by both Houses of Parliament. Till then, the court said, the President can only suspend the Legislative Assembly by suspending the provisions of the Constitution relating to the Legislative Assembly.

• The case became one of the most cited whenever hung Assemblies were returned and parties scrambled to form a government.

• It put an end to the arbitrary dismissal of state governments by the central government. The verdict ruled that the floor of the Assembly is the only forum that should test the majority of the government of the day, and not the subjective opinion of the governor.

Who is Basavaraj Bommai?

• Born on January 28, 1960 in Hubballi, Basavaraj Bommai is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering. He worked in Tata Motors, Pune for three years and then became an industrial entrepreneur.

• 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 CM J.H. Patel and as deputy leader of the opposition in the council.

• The leader quit Janata Dal (United) and joined 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 and 2018 Assembly polls.

• Bommai had also served as minister for water resources and cooperation in the previous BJP government.

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