The Hindu : National : Bommai played a key role in founding Janata Party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Bommai played a key role in founding Janata Party

Bangalore Bureau

He brought about the 1994 landmark apex court judgment

BANGALORE: Somappa Rayappa Bommai, former Karnataka Chief Minister and Union Minister for Human Resource Development in the National Front governments headed by H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral, passed away in a private hospital here after a heart attack. He was 84.

The funeral is scheduled to take place in his village, Karadagi, in Hubli, family sources said.

Mr. Bommai, whose political career spanned four decades, was a founding father of the Janata Party along with R. Ramakrishna Hegde, J.H. Patel and Mr. Gowda. Although he started his career as an admirer of M.N. Roy, Mr. Bommai joined the Congress (O) in 1969 and, after the Emergency of the mid-1970s, joined the Janata Party movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan. He played a key role in the installation of the first non-Congress government in Karnataka in 1983.

Mr. Bommai will be best remembered, however, for his role in bringing about the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in 1994, five years after his government was dismissed by Governor P. Venkatasubbaiah on April 21, 1989. The judgment, known as S.R. Bommai vs. Union of India, established federal fair play in governance. It overturned a long tradition of the misuse of Article 356 for dismissing elected governments.

Mr. Bommai was born in a farming family. Like many leaders of his age, he, as a student, joined the freedom struggle.

He participated in the State Ekikarana (unification) movement and fought the legal cases of its activists.

In 1962, he entered formal politics, contesting from the Kundagol Assembly constituency as Independent. He lost that election, but won the next in 1967 as a Lokasevaka Sangha candidate.

He was elected to the Legislative Council from the local bodies’ constituency in 1972 and went on to become the Opposition leader in the Council in 1975, when Emergency was clamped.

He took an active part in the struggle against the Emergency and became vice-president of the Janata Party in 1977. In 1978, he was elected from Hubli Rural.

Mr. Bommai held the Industries portfolio in the Ramakrishna Hegde government in 1983 and the additional portfolio of Finance in 1984. He became Chief Minister on August 13, 1988. His government was dismissed on April 21 1989.

Mr. Bommai played a major role in the formation of the Janata Dal. In 1990, he became its national president. In 1992, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He was inducted into the Union Cabinet by Mr. Gowda in 1996.

When the Janata Dal split in 1998, Mr. Bommai decided to stay with the Janata Dal (Secular). He tried to bring together his two friends — Mr. Gowda and Hegde. But his efforts to unify the JD(S) factions not only failed but also resulted in his starting the All-India Progressive Janata Dal. He stayed away from active politics after his Rajya Sabha term ended in 2004.

Mr. Bommai leaves two sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Basavaraj Bommai, is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council. The funeral is scheduled to take place in his village, family sources said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National