Karnataka: Basavaraj Bommai files nomination amid fanfare in Shiggaon

Haveri: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday filed his nomination for the May 10 Assembly polls from his traditional seat of Shiggaon in this district amid fanfare.

He was accompanied by BJP national president J P Nadda and Kannada film star Sudeep, as he filed his papers before the election returning officer.

Bommai is seeking re-election from Shiggaon, from where he has been an MLA three times since 2008.

Earlier, he visited temples and also held a massive roadshow along with Nadda and Sudeep in Shiggaon.

Hundreds of people gathered as Bommai, Nadda and Sudeep travelled through the streets in a specially-designed vehicle, after garlanding the statue of Kittur Rani Chennamma, who in 1824 led an armed resistance against the British East India Company.

They later addressed a public meeting, seeking votes for Bommai and the BJP.

The 63-year-old CM, who is the son of former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Parivar veteran late S R Bommai, had already filed one set of nominations during an "auspicious muhurat" on April 15.

Congress has fielded Mohammed Yousuf Savanur, President of Anjuman-e-Islam in Hubballi-Dharwad, to take on the CM.

Bommai won in Shiggaon in the 2018 Assembly polls by 9,260 votes.

He started his political career with the Janata Dal and was member of the Karnataka Legislative Council twice (in 1998 and 2004) from Dharwad local authorities constituency. He had also served as Parliament Secretary to the Chief Minister and as Deputy Leader of Opposition.

Bommai quit the Janata Dal (United) and joined the BJP in 2008 and in the Assembly elections held later that year got elected as MLA from Shiggaon.

He then went on to retain the seat in the 2013 and 2018 Assembly polls.

Bommai, who served as Home Minister in the B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government, became the Chief Minister in 2021 after the veteran leader stepped down from the post.