Unhappy with the railways for ignoring North Karnataka, the MPs of North Karnataka region have decided to stage a dharna in front of office of the South Western Railway general manager in Hubli on Tuesday (July 31). Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi said MPs Suresh Angadi (Belgaum), Basavaraj (Tumkur), Siddeshwar (Davanagere), Janardhan Swamy (Chitradurga), Shivakumar Udasi (Haveri), Ramesh Katti (Chikkodi), P S Gaddigoudar (Bagalkot) and Ramesh Jogajinagi along with others will participate in the dharna.
It may be recalled here that Prahlad Joshi has been pressing the railway authorities to run the Yeswantpur-Nizamuddin Samparka Kranti Express train via Tumlur-Davanagere- Hubli-Dharwad- Belgaum on all the days of the week but the demand has not been heeded to. The train runs on this route only twice a week while on other days it runs through Andhra Pradesh.
The purpose of the train is to connect the state capitals to national capitals and enabling the people of the state to reach New Delhi. However, the Yeswantpur-Nizamuddin Samparka Kranti Express serves the interest of Andhra people more than those in Karnataka. The Railway authorities point out that changing the route will evoke protest from the people of Andhra Pradesh.
MP Prahlad Joshi has pointed out that there are several other trains connecting Hyderabad and other places of Andhra Pradesh to New Delhi.
Joshi said he would also take up the issue of development works carried out in Dharwad Railway station not being people-friendly.
