and Minister of State New & Renewable Energy & Chemicals and Fertilizers
Bhagwanth Khuba in New Delhi.
B. S. Yediyurappa resigned as Chief Minister on 26 July 2021, on the second anniversary of his term.
Dharmendra Pradhan and
G. Kishan Reddy were sent by the national leadership of the BJP to carry out the selection of the next chief minister. On 27 July 2021, Bommai was elected to the post. He was sworn in the next day as the 23rd
Chief Minister of Karnataka, becoming the fourth chief minister from the
Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. On his very first day as the Chief Minister, after the cabinet meet he announced scholarships for higher education to farmers' children. He also increased the pensions of widows, physically challenged and senior citizens of the state. In August 2021, under Basavaraj Bommai's administration Karnataka became the first state in the country to implement the
National Education Policy 2020. during his visit to
Bengaluru in June 2022 In September 2021, Basavaraj Bommai's administration faced criticism over the demolition of local temples that were not approved by the government, following a Supreme Court order. Due to public outcry, he ordered a halt on the demolition of temples. Bommai revived
Pratibimba − the Chief Minister's Dashboard, an online portal to review developmental works designed in line with that of
Prime Minister's Office in October 2021. Bommai's government passed the
Anti-Conversion bill (The Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill) in December 2021, which prohibits forcible conversion of religion from one to another, by fraud, allurement or marriage. The bill provided some exemption if one needed to re-convert back to his/her immediate previous religion. The oppositions staged various protests condemning this bill, both in the floor of the house and in various places around the streets. Bommai presented his maiden Karnataka state budget with an outlay of 2.6 lakh crores in March 2022. The main highlights included flow of money of around 30,000 crores for construction of fly-overs, under-pass, highways,
Namma Metro and hospitals in
Bangalore; 11,500 crores to inland transport; 9,500 crores to the development of
Mekedatu project,
Upper Krishna Project,
Upper Bhadra River and
Arkavathi River projects. In May 2022, Bommai visited the
World Economic Forum at
Davos,
Switzerland to bring in investments to the state. His main concerns was to attract the investors to the Global Investors meet held in
Bangalore during the time of November. Bommai stated that he has inked MOUs with
LuLu Group International and
ReNew Power companies for Rs 52,000 crores investments over the next seven years. In October 2022, Bommai and former chief minister
B S Yediyurappa launched the 'Jan Sankalp Yatra', party's travel across the state starting from the district of
Raichur. It was termed to be started to counter the opposition's '
Bharat Jodo Yatra' going around in the state. In November 2022, Bommai's government inaugurated "
The Statue of Prosperity" − a 108 feet tall statue of the city founder
Kempe Gowda in
Kempegowda International Airport of Bangalore, in the presence of Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi and other delegates. This statue entered the World Book of records as the World's tallest bronze statue of a city founder. In February 2023, Bommai along with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, inaugurated Asia's largest helicopter manufacturing facility, HAL in
Gubbi taluk of
Tumkur. The facility has production, testing and deployment infrastructure facilities spread over an area of 615 acres of land. This organisation is said to boost the employments in the state and also strengthen the defense sector in the country. In March 2023, his government passed the controversial Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2023 increasing work hours limit from 9 to 12 in a day in factories, allowing night shift for women and set the maximum work hours at 48 per week. Allowable overtime hours were also increased from 75 to 145 for three month period. The government also reduced minimum wages in the dyeing, printing, silk and textile industries. Bahutva Karnataka, a coalition of progressive organisations, accused the government of introducing laws to deny basic rights to workers. In the same month, his government inaugurated the "Bengaluru − Mysuru 10 lane Highway" in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that also connected
Ramanagara,
Channapatna,
Mandya,
Maddur and other parts along the way. This project was said to reduce time of travel from 3 hours to 75 minutes and also conserve energy usage. In the last
cabinet meeting held by the end of March 2023, Bommai's government announced significant changes regarding the reservation for castes in government jobs and education. The 4%
OBC quota provided to Muslims under 2B, were scrapped and moved to 10% reservation under the
Economically Weaker Sections. The same were extended to
Vokkaligas and
Lingayats under new categories of 2C and 2D. This also led to protests by various communities across parts of the states and also faced opposition from other parties and organizations.
Challenges Bommai's government was accused by various Christian groups for the
2021 anti-Christian violence in Karnataka, following the implementation of his Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act or the anti-conversion law by his government. The Archbishop of Bengaluru, Most Rev. Peter Machado accused the Chief Minister for providing tacit sanction to vigilantes to extend targeted attacks on minorities, particular Christian communities in Karnataka. In February 2022, a
controversy over hijabs in educational institutions started in
Udupi, followed by various protests in the state. Bommai's Government issued an order stating that the uniforms mandated by the state government, the school managements or college development committees must be worn compulsorily. Further on 15 March, the
High Court of Karnataka upheld the government's decision of not allowing any religious symbols and to follow the rules of uniformity, in educational institutions. The Karnataka PSI Scam, which is an entrance exam to fill 545 vacant seats of police sub-inspector post, was conducted in October 2021. Suspicions arose about some candidates allegedly using fraudulent means to score well in the exam. And these malpractices were supported by various higher officials, police officers and recruitment officials who were allegedly bribed with money. This included the allotment of seats, ranks and positions to those students who brought in money. This led to a political storm, and a
CID enquiry was instigated. Various political leaders from all parties,
IPS and
IAS officers and DCs were held in custody with the enquiry subsiding on. A contractor named Santhosh, committed suicide allegedly stating that he was harassed by the cabinet minister
K. S. Eshwarappa, to provide him 40% commission of the grants provided for various construction and development projects. This led to various protests across the state by the opposition demanding the resignation of the minister. Bommai received his resignation couple days later, and initiated a CID enquiry into the issue. The opposition branded the cabinet as "40% government". However Eshwarappa was provided a clean chit, at the end of the trial by the investigative agencies. The state was throbbed with series of killings in coastal Karnataka in July 2022. The Murder of a BJP worker Praveen Nettaru led to fierce protests across the state against the government, and led to resignation of thousands of members from the party. Muslim bodies slammed Bommai for his partial treatment in the serial killing in the district of Dakshina Kannada, as his compensation for the Hindu Victim was different and Muslim Victim was different plus the agencies handling the cases were different. The opposition parties shared and published a scannable 'PayCM' posters, with Bommai's face on it. These posters were stuck on walls of streets and the government was accused of corruptions, commissions and briberies, once the QR codes on the posters were scanned. The BJP called it cheap politics, and cases were filed against members of Congress, for sticking up of posters in public places, which is prohibited in the state. According to the
National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) for the year 2019–21, 35% children were stunted and 33% were overweight due to food security schemes not being properly implemented and communal groups disrupting access to nutrition. Environment conservation was another challenge as depletion threats are looming on many rivers like
Arkavathy,
Vrishabhavathi, and
Pinakini. However, his party lost the majority in the assembly and Bommai conceded his party's defeat and stated "BJP has not been able to make the mark" and said would come back stronger in the successive
Lok Sabha elections. He tendered his resignation as the chief minister of the state to the Governor
Thawar Chand Gehlot on 13 May 2023 and served as a
caretaker chief minister until the next government was formed. ==2024 Lok Sabha Elections==