History repeats with junior Bommai

Bharath Bommai
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The defeat of Bharath Bommai in the Shiggaon Assembly constituency byelection on Saturday reminded one of a similar defeat that his father faced in his first election.

It was in 1994 that Basavaraj Bommai, son of former Chief Minister late S.R. Bommai, contested his first Assembly election from the Hubballi Rural Assembly constituency as the united Janata Dal candidate. Opposite him was the then political greenhorn, Jagadish Shettar, from the BJP. Belying all expectations, Mr. Basavaraj Bommai suffered a crushing defeat in the election.

Thirty years later, after much water has flown under the bridge, Mr. Bharath Bommai finds himself in a similar situation. His father, now in the party which handed out defeat to him in his first election, has won from the same constituency four times in a row. Though the junior Bommai was expected to easily sail through, he lost against Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, comparatively a lesser-known personality. Mr. Jagadish Shettar, who had defeated Mr. Basavaraj Bommai once, had campaigned for Mr. Bharath Bommai in Shiggaon.