Bengaluru: Newly elected Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with outgoing State Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa during BJP Legislature Party meeting in Bengaluru. (PTI)
NEW DELHI: The announcement that Basavaraj Bommai will be the next Karnataka chief minister, made by his predecessor BS Yediyurappa, is a significant gesture to reassure the influential Lingayat community that their interests are safe with BJP and the party will not lose sight of them.
Bommai is a Lingayat, and his elevation after the exit of BSY, seen as the tallest leader of the community, was crafted to try and ensure the support remains intact, given that it was a factor that helped make BJP a dominant force in Karnataka and gave it a foothold in the south.