Bommai ministry

S. R. Bommai ministry was the Council of Ministers in Karnataka, a state in South India headed by S. R. Bommai[1] of the Janata Party.

Bommai ministry
18th Council of Ministers of Karnataka State
S. R. Bommai Chief Minister of Karnataka
Date formed	13 August 1988
Date dissolved	21 April 1989
People and organisations
Head of state	Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
Head of government	S. R. Bommai
No. of ministers	70
Member parties	JP
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Indian National Congress
Opposition leader	K. S. Nagarathanamma
History
Election(s)	1985
Outgoing election	1989
Legislature term(s)	6 years (Council) 5 years (Assembly)
Predecessor	Third Ramakrishna Hegde cabinet
Successor	Second Veerendra Patil cabinet

The ministry had multiple ministers including the Chief Minister.[2] All ministers belonged to the JP.

After Ramakrishna Hegde quit on moral grounds, Mr. Bommai took charge as Chief Minister of the State on 13 August 1988 and his government was dismissed by the then Governor, P. Venkatasubbaiah, on 21 April 1989. The dismissal was on the grounds that his government had lost its majority following large-scale defections engineered by several Janata Party leaders of the day. Bommai had sought some time from the Governor to prove his majority on the floor of the Legislature and he was denied this. He challenged this order in the Supreme Court.[3]

S. R. Bommai v. Union of India was a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, where the Court discussed at length, the provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India and related issues. The apex court spelt out restrictions on the Centre's power to dismiss a state government under Article 356.[4] This case had huge impact on Centre-State Relations. Instances of imposition of President's rule have reduced after this judgement.[5]