By IANS
Bangalore : Former Karnataka chief minister S.R. Bommai died here late Wednesday after a prolonged illness, his family sources said. He was 84.
The Janata Parivar stalwart breathed his last at the Wockhardt hospital where he was admitted recently.
Somalingaiah Royappa Bommai was the chief minister for a short term of eight months from Aug 13, 1988 to April 21, 1989.
It was his dismissal by the Rajiv Gandhi government in April 1989 that led to the landmark “Bommai judgment” by the Supreme Court in March 1994, curtailing the union government’s powers to dismiss a state government under Article 356 of the constitution without the chief minister taking the floor test in the legislative assembly to prove majority in the lower house.
The veteran Karnataka politician was one of the famous quartet of the Janata parivar in the state along with former Janata Dal chief ministers Ramakrishna Hegde, H.D. Deve Gowda and J.H. Patel.
State Governor Rameshwar Thakur, former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda and other prominent leaders cutting across party lines mourned Bommai’s death and conveyed their condolences to his bereaved family.
He leaves behind two sons and two daughters. His eldest son Basavaraj Bommai is a member of the state legislative council and belongs to the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).