Belagavi residents allege government neglect

Belagavi, often referred to as the second capital of Karnataka, has been neglected and side-lined by the successive governments, due to the lack of political interest shown by its elected representatives. While the united efforts of the elected representatives from Hubballi and Dharwad, who transcend party barriers to benefit their region, politicians from Belagavi have been engaged in blaming each other for the loss of crucial government establishments in the district, say residents.

A recent example of this neglect is the Vande Bharat train, which got its approval from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-elected representatives and now operates up to Hubbali-Dharwad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off two Vande Bharat trains, one of which operates between Bengaluru and Dharwad daily. The train’s extension to Belagavi was halted due to “technical reasons,” according to BJP MPs Mangala Suresh Angadi and Annasaheb Jolley, from Belagavi and Chikkodi constituencies, respectively. However, they did not disclose the specific reasons for the train’s exclusion.

“But Union minister Pralhad Joshi, after inaugurating the Vande Bharat train to Bengaluru from Dharwad, announced that the service would soon be extended to Belagavi, catching the Belagavi BJP representatives off guard,” a Congress leader pointed out.

Mahantesh Patil, a businessman who often travel to commercial cities for his business, criticised the elected representatives describing them as ‘useless’. When things come to the development, the politician from Hubballi and Dharwad forget their parties and come together to provide more facilities to people. “However, things much differ to our representatives who except in government meeting not face each others. They must learn much from their Hubballi-Dharwad counterparts. Else things go against them in elections to come,” Patil said.

The trains between Belagavi and Bengaluru are consistently overcrowded, and commuters would have welcomed the extension of the Vande Bharat train to Belagavi instead of its final stop at Dharwad.

The road distance between Belagavi and Dharwad is 76 km, while the rail route covers 122 km. The travel time by road is approximately 1.15 hours, whereas it takes 3.5 hours by train. The Vande Bharat train completes the journey in 3 hours. The super express train introduced by the late Railway minister of state and Belagavi BJP MP, Suresh Angadi, in 2018, has been running at full capacity even during off-seasons. The Rani Channamma express train departs from Belagavi at 6:40 pm and arrives in Bengaluru at 8 am the next day. In comparison, the super express train departs Belagavi at 9 pm and reaches Bengaluru at 7 am, the following day.

Angadi, during his tenure, attempted to reschedule the arrival time of the Rani Channamma express train to 7 am instead of 8 am. However, he claimed that the time change was avoided because of the objections by elected representatives from Hubbali-Dharwad, who preferred not to return home early in the morning, citing stray dog attacks.

The negligence towards Belagavi also includes the establishment of IIT and IIIT at Dharwad. The district Congress president (rural) Vinay Navalgatti has alleged absence of interest by BJP leaders for the establishment of these institutions away from Belagavi. “Congress has established the Visvesvarayya Technological University in Belagavi which could have been boosted if IIT, IIIT were established here. Hubbali-Dharwad BJP leaders are utilising the inefficiency of their Belagavi counterparts,” he said.

In contrast, Sanjay Patil, BJP district president, highlighted the inaction of Congress leaders when the Commissionerate offices of primary and secondary education were shifted to Dharwad and the Income Tax Commissionerate was relocated to Hubbali. A college principal from, demanding anonymity, said Belagavi is being termed as second capital just for having Suvarna Vidhan Soudha, while people from the district and other part of northern region have to go to Hubballi and Dharwad for administrative works.