Lok Sabha elections: Karnataka MPs take railway route to attract voters

BENGALURU: With elections round the corner, many sitting MPs have taken the rail route to woo voters. Over the past few months, several new trains have been introduced and services extended or provided additional halts. Most of these are initiatives of MPs mainly from the ruling BJP, thanks to their accessibility to railway minister Piyush Goyal .

While Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan is credited as the first in the country to have built a halt station at Hoodi from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds, he was also instrumental in introducing many new suburban services on Bengaluru City-Whitefield, Banaswadi-Whitefield and Banaswadi-Hosur sections.

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha earned the nickname ‘Extension Simha’ in railway circles after he extended three trains (Bengaluru-Ramanagara MEMU , Kachiguda-Bengaluru and Chennai-Bengaluru intercity) to Mysuru. DV Sadananda Gowda (Bengaluru North) and Kolar Congress MP KH Muniyappa recently managed to get a new Delhi-bound train (Yeshwantpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin weekly express) via Chikkaballapur and Kolar as well as the extension of Yeshwantpur-Devanahalli DEMU to Chikkaballapur.

Krishna Prasad, a member of Karnataka Railway Vedike, a group campaigning for better services, said: “Trains are the cheapest and a preferred mode of transport of common people and it immediately connects with voters, but most MPs announce new trains or extensions only at the fag-end of their terms as they believe that people would remember their contributions during polls. Only a handful of MPs has done something remarkable for railway network in the state.”

Bengaluru’s suburban rail project also got a push, but its foundation stone, which scheduled to be laid before the polls, remains stuck in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) stage.

Mohan told TOI that he has been pushing for a dedicated suburban rail project for Bengaluru for years now. “Hoodi station and new suburban services have benefited several passengers especially those working in and around Whitefield,” he said. “In fact, the suburban rail project would have taken off much earlier if the state government had given adequate support.”

While Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra was instrumental in introducing the Yeshwantpur-Shivamogga Jan Shatabdi Express , Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel is credited with getting a new overnight tri-weekly express between Yeshwantpur and Mangaluru and upgradation of Mangaluru railway station.

S Yogendra, a regular passenger between Bengaluru and Mysuru, said: "The Mysuru-Kodagu MP has introduced Vishwamanava Express between Mysuru and Hubballi via Bengaluru, which was pending for 12 years."