Bengaluru-Kalaburagi Vande Bharat train to run via Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Wednesday said that the Railway Board has approved the re-routing of Kalaburagi-SMVT Bengaluru-Kalaburagi Vande Bharat Express train via Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam.
This announcement will introduce an additional stoppage at Prasanthi Nilayam and will come into effect on January 1, 2026 from Kalaburagi and January 2, 2026 from SMVT Bengaluru, it added.
The train will now run through this route to benefit pilgrims, devotees, and passengers travelling to and from the region, officials said.
According to an official statement, the timings for Train No 22231/22232 Kalaburagi-SMVT Bengaluru- Kalaburagi Vande Bharat Express have been revised.
"Train No 22231 Kalaburagi-SMVT Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will depart Kalaburagi at 6:10 hrs, instead of the earlier 5:15 hrs. En route, the train will arrive/depart at Yadgir at 6:48/6:50 hrs, Raichur at 7:38/7:40 hrs, Manthralayam Road at 7:58/8 hrs, Guntakal at 9/09:05 hrs, Anantapur at 10:03/10:05 hrs, followed by a newly added stoppage at Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam at 11:00/11:02 hrs," it stated.
The South Western Railway stated that Train No. 22232 SMVT Bengaluru-Kalaburagi Vande Bharat Express will depart Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru at 14:40 hrs as before. From SMVT Bengaluru, the train will reach Yelahanka at 15:05/15:07 hrs.
A new scheduled halt at Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam has been introduced at 16:23/16:25 hrs. The train will finally reach Kalaburagi at 22:45 hrs, earlier than the previous 23:30 hrs schedule, the statement added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
