Bijapur-Yeshwantpur train to resume services from April 10
Train will not have general tickets, seats should be reserved online/offline
Bijapur: Several trains which were suspended owing to lockdown and lack of passengers, are now gradually coming back on track with Indian Railways resuming their services.
South Western Railway (SWR) has now decided to operate another special express train connecting between Bijapur and Bengaluru.
After the lockdown, only fifteen out of twenty-six scheduled trains have been resumed their operations. Among the nine are daily trains, four are weekly and two are biweekly trains. To this list of operating trains, another daily special express train Bijapur -Yeshwantpur (06542/41) will be added from April 11. However, this special express train will start its operations on April 10 from Yeshwantpur.
This train will run from Bijapur via Hosapete and Chikajajur junction to reach Yeshwantpur. The train will depart Bijapur at 7 pm and reach the destination Yeshwantpur at 10:20 am and the same train departs Yeshwantpur at 9:30 pm and reaches Bijapur at 11:40 pm. This train will have one AC-3 tier coach, three sleeper coaches, four-second class coaches, one disabled friendly compartment, and two luggage-cum breakeven coaches.
Railway officials said that the online booking for the special daily express has already started. All the berths will be reserved, that is, the passengers have to either book the tickets online or at the reservation counters in railway stations. The general tickets will not be issued as the train is being operated with limited seats adhering to the Covid-19 norms.
At present two daily special express trains are being operated to Bengaluru via Bijapur, one is Gol Gumbaz Express and another is Basava Express. With the introduction of this new express train (06542/41) the tally will increase to three trains.
It may be noted that the same express train was first introduced in November 2019, where late union minister Suresh Angadi had flagged off. It had failed to receive the expected response from the public because of unfriendly timings. This train was operated in the loss until the train services were discontinued owing to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. After the post-lockdown, the netizens demanded the SWR to continue the special express train. Now, after over a year the railway authorities have decided to resume the Bijapur-Yeshwantpur special express train from the third week of this month.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka MLA Vinay Kulkarni disqualified after conviction in Goudar murder case
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Saturday issued an official notification regarding the disqualification of Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni following his conviction in the murder case of BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar.
The former minister is currently in prison, serving life imprisonment in the case.
“Consequent upon the conviction of Vinay Kulkarni, Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly representing the Dharwad constituency, by the LXXXI Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge, Bengaluru City (CCH-82), in Spl CC No. 565/2021, he stands disqualified from the membership of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the date of conviction, i.e, April 15, 2026,” the notification read.
“He stands disqualified in terms of the provisions of Article 191(1)(e) of the Constitution of India, read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and such disqualification shall continue for a further period of six years after his release, unless the conviction is stayed by a competent court,” it added.
Hence, one seat in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has fallen vacant, the notification said.
Bypolls were held on April 9 to fill two other seats in the 224-member Assembly that fell vacant due to the death of sitting MLAs. The results will be declared on May 4.
On April 15, Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder. Subsequently, on April 17, the court sentenced Kulkarni and 15 others convicted in the case to life imprisonment.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP Zilla Panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at that time. Hired assailants attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym at Saptapur in Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
The CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2020, naming Vinay Kulkarni as the “main conspirator.” It alleged that he perceived Yogeshgouda Goudar as a growing political rival in Dharwad and hired contract killers to eliminate him.
Kulkarni was arrested by the CBI in 2020. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August 2021 under certain conditions, including a ban on entering Dharwad district. However, in June 2025, the apex court cancelled his bail following allegations of witness tampering and attempts to influence prosecution witnesses.
Kulkarni again sought bail in January 2026, but the High Court rejected it, citing judicial propriety.
However, the Supreme Court granted him bail on February 27 after noting that all witnesses had been examined.
