Sathish Kumpala, BJP district president, addressing a press conference at the BJP party office in Mangaluru on August 26.

| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH

The BJP has questioned the silence of the Congress and the State government over Railway Ministry bringing Mangaluru railway region under Mysuru Division of the South Western Railway (SWR) through a gazette notification on August 21.Addressing press persons here on Wednedsay (August 26), Sathish Kumpala, president of the BJP’s Dakshina Kannada unit, said that the Congress and the State government should have welcomed the Railway Ministry’s decision, keeping in mind Karnataka’s interests. “The Congress should speak now for Karnataka. We (BJP) don’t understand why the grand old party is silent,” Mr. Kumpala said.He said the BJP does not understand why the State government is also not reacting to Keralam’s objection to the integration of the Mangaluru Railway region with SWR.Keralam has nothing to do with the railway regions of Mangaluru, Mr. Kumpala said, reacting to the Keralam leaders’ opposition to carving the Mangaluru region out of the Palakkad Division.Mr. Kumpala said that the BJP thanks the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, Captain Brijesh Chowta, Dakshina Kannada MP, Railway activists, and former Dakshina Kannada MPs for realising the two-and-a-half decade-old demand of the people of Mangaluru.He said that the demand for carving out the Mangaluru Railway region from Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division began in 2003.Mr. Kumpala said that Mr. Somanna and Capt. Chowta took special interest to realise the collective demand of the people.He said integrating the Mangaluru Railway region with SWR will pave the way for infrastructure development and address administrative and technical issues pertaining to the Railways at the earliest. It will help for better co-ordination for introducing new trains, address issues relating to railway time table and railway stations. In addition, it will help for employment generation directly and indirectly.“The integration will help boost the SWR Mysuru Division’s economy upto ₹800 crore,” Mr. Kumpala claimed.Issues pertaining to introducing more trains between Mangaluru and Bengaluru can be addressed in a better way now, Mr. Kumpala said. Published - August 26, 2026 07:05 pm IST