Basavaraj Bommai is new Karnataka CM: List of other father-son chief ministers

Bommai is the son of former Karnataka chief minister SR Bommai.

Basavaraj Bommai, the son of 11th chief minister of Karnataka, SR Bommai, was on Tuesday formally announced by the ruling Bharaitiya Janata Party (BJP) as the southern state’s next CM, a day after BS Yediyurappa stepped down from the post. Bommai and his father, who held the office from August 1988 to April 1989, join several other father-son duos who have been chief ministers.

New Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai (File Photo)

Here are some such pairings who became CMs of their respective states:

(1.) HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy: Beginning with Karnataka, Deve Gowda was its 14th chief minister, from December 1994 to May 1996, after which he resigned to take over as the prime minister. As PM, Deve Gowda was in office from June 1996 to April 1997. His son Kumaraswamy, meanwhile, was chief minister across two terms and was heading the Congress-JDS coalition government which collapsed in July 2019, paving the way for Yediyurappa to return to power for a fourth term which came to an end on Monday.

(2.) M Karunanidhi and MK Stalin: In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, DMK patriarch Karunanidhi held its chief ministership across five terms between 1969 and 2011. His son Stalin is the incumbent and first-time CM; under Stalin’s leadership, the DMK ousted arch-rivals AIADMK from power in the recently-held assembly elections.

(3.) YS Rajasekhara Reddy-YS Jagan Mohan Reddy: Andhra Pradesh, another southern state, elected YS Rajasekhara Reddy as its 14th chief minister and he held the post across two terms, from 2004-2009. His son, Jagan Mohan Reddy, is the incumbent chief minister in his first term, since May 2019.

(4.) Biju Patnaik-Naveen Patnaik: In Odisha, Biju Patnaik held the state’s top job twice, from 1961-1963 and 1990-95. Naveen, meanwhile, is another incumbent CM and has been in office since 2000, across five terms.

(5.) Mulayam Singh Yadav-Akhilesh Yadav: In the country’ most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav was in CM’s chair across three terms while Akhilesh was in office for a single term, from 2012-17.

(6.) Shibu Soren-Hemant Soren: In Jharkhand, Shibu Soren was the chief minister for three terms while Hemant Soren, a 2-term CM, began his current stint in December 2019.

Other father-son chief minister pairings include Shankarrao Chavan-Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra), PA Sangma-Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya) and Dorjee Khandu-Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh). Conrad Sangma and Pema Khandu are both incumbent chief ministers.

Additionally, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, now a Union territory, has had both father-son and father-daughter pairings as CMs. Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti were all chief ministers of J&K.