Title - Bidar pins hopes on Kharge, wants nod for railway projects

Mallikarjun Kharge is all set to visit the district for the first time after being appointed as Union Railway Minister.

People have a lot of hopes as Kharge was born in Waravatti village of Bhalki taluk. ‘Kharge is our district,’ they observed.

They also have a number of expectations of Kharge. Topping the list is a state capital that is closer to Bidar than Bangalore.

The citizens are also hoping for a shorter train journey from Nanded to Bangalore.

As the present train service takes 17 hours to reach the capital, people have been demanding a shorter journey between 12-13 hours.

They also want the Nanded-Bangalore train to depart from Bidar station by 5 pm daily.

If the demand is not feasible due to technical reasons, they want a night train between Manmad and Mysore via Bidar.

They are expecting an immediate solution to the issue of the Bidar-Gulbarga railway line.

As work on the line has been completed in Bidar district, the citizens want work on the track in Gulbarga district to be finished at the earliest. This line can save time as well as connect to the nearest route to Delhi, through Manmad, they remarked.

The District Congress Committee will urge Kharge, on his visit to Bidar on July 10, to consider new railway lines from Nanded-Bidar and Bodhan-Bidar as it is already mentioned in the earlier budget.

People of the district still cherish former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi as he sanctioned the inter-city train between Bidar-Hyderabad during his budget session.

A district delegation headed by MP and former chief minister N Dharam Singh had met Trivedi to propose the inter-city train.

Singh had assured of gifting the train service to the district as he had done his pilot training at the Bidar Air Force Atation.

The people are now optimistic that Kharge’s visit will usher new developments in his home district.