Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s statement on Thursday that he is yet to study the issue of the Mangaluru Railway region’s integration with South Western Railway drew criticism online in Mangaluru on Friday.
| Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who had not reacted to the Railway Ministry’s August 21 decision to shift the Mangaluru railway region from Southern Railway’s (SR) Palakkad Division to South Western Railway’s (SWR) Mysuru Division, finally responded on Thursday. However, his statement that he was yet to study the issue and that there should be unity among southern States drew flak online, including on X.Vijesh Shetty, an X user, posted: “Politics is a shameless job. Depending on the situation, they play their cards. It has been almost 10 days, and Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar says he has no details about moving Mangaluru from Palakkad. According to their convenience, they play the Karnataka region, language card and now the south Indian States card.”Damodar Hegde, another X user, wrote: “You (D.K. Shivakumar) look sad while people are happy about the logical and right decision.”An X user with the handle Nirbhavuka wrote: “This Delhi leash is far too short, so having a spine remains strictly optional. When your chair is a political gift from the High Command, Kannadiga pride just evaporates. Delhi Masters buy Kerala brownie points on Karnataka’s dime while he obediently claps.”K.A. Jagadeesh said that by talking about south Indian unity, Mr. Shivakumar was showing he was not in favour of Kannadigas. Another user remarked: “For the same reason, we lost Kasargod to Keralam.”Khader welcomes the decisionMeanwhile, Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Minorities Welfare U.T. Khader, who represents the Mangaluru Assembly constituency in Dakshina Kannada district, welcomed the Railway Ministry’s decision.Speaking in Bengaluru on Thursday, Mr. Khader said: “Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division has worked for Mangaluru so far and we thank them.” Now that the Ministry has decided to integrate Mangaluru with SWR’s Mysuru Division, it is a good move for the region’s overall development, which was possible because Minister of State for Railways (MoSR) V. Somanna was from Karnataka, he added.“The Chief Minister too wanted Mangaluru to be under SWR and the government has supported the move,” he said. Asked about opposition to the decision in Keralam, Mr. Khader said opposition was bound to exist for everything in a democracy.“We thank the MoSR and the Ministry for this decision, which was not taken for the past many years,” Mr. Khader said. Published - August 28, 2026 08:19 pm IST
