Suresh Channabasappa Angadi (1 June 1955 – 23 September 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Union Minister of State for Railways of India from 30 May 2019 to 23 September 2020. He was

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

from 2004 to September 2020. He was a leader of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

from

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

for four consecutive terms starting in 2004 (

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (2 June 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian National ...

) and was reelected in 2009, 2014, and 2019. He never lost an election.

Early life

Suresh Angadi was born on 1 June 1955 to Somavva and Chanabasappa in an agricultural family in Kanvi Karvinakoppa near

). He graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce from the S.S.S. Samithi College of Commerce in Belgaum. He also then obtained his law degree from Raja Lakhamgouda Law College in Belgaum.

Political career

Angadi began his political career in 1996 with the

as the vice-president of the party's

Belagavi district Belagavi district, formerly also known as Belgaum district, is a district in the state of Karnataka, India. The district is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka with hectares being used for commercial production. It has overtaken Mandya distri ...

unit. In 2001 he was nominated as the president of the district unit and continued to hold that post until he was nominated as the party's candidate for the Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency in 2004. He defeated his opponent, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

candidate, and became a Member of the

. He was then re-elected to Lok Sabha from Belgaum in 2009, 2014, and 2019. He held the distinction of never having lost an election. In May 2019, Angadi became

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

and served in that position until his death in September 2020. As a minister, he approved the Suburban Commuter Rail project in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. He also signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangalore International Airport for the building of a railway station near the airport that would provide connectivity to the center of the city. The station was to be built by

BIAL Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over , it is located about north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by ...

and handed over to the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

for operations and maintenance. Some of the other projects advanced by Angadi as the Minister of State for Railways included the country's first private and the longest 'roll-on, roll-off' freight service for goods trucks along the 682 kilometre route between Bangalore and

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the States and Territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore ...

. As the Minister of State for Railways, he also introduced the direct recruitment examination to the railways in 2019, with over 4.7 million candidates appearing in the examination that was conducted in 15 languages. In 2019, he had also signed a MoU with the

Confederation of Indian Industry The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental business and industry organisation and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII is a membership-based organisation. ...

to drive energy efficiency and pilot projects aimed at setting up net-zero buildings and mechanisms for sharing of energy management practices between the industry association and the Indian Railways. He had announced a call for 150 railway stations across the country to be green certified by 2020. In his 16-month tenure as the Minister of State for Railways he was credited for introducing over 50 train services just in the South Western division alone. At the beginning of the

COVID-19 lockdown in India On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38billion (138 crores) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. ...

, he introduced special trains across states in India, including 31 pairs of special

Rajdhani express The Rajdhani Express () is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. ''Rajdhani'', derived from the Sanskrit m ...

trains and 254 pairs of special mail and express trains, aimed at enabling travel of migrant labour. He also headed the Suresh Angadi Education Foundation, which runs educational institutions across

Death

Angadi tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 11 September 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of , according to Indian government ...

, and was initially

asymptomatic Asymptomatic (or clinically silent) is an adjective categorising the medical conditions (i.e., injuries or diseases) that patients carry but without experiencing their symptoms, despite an explicit diagnosis (e.g., a positive medical test). P ...

. He was later hospitalised at AIIMS hospital in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and died on 23 September 2020, at the age of 65, making him the first Indian

Union minister The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India' ...

to die of COVID-19. Given the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions his body was not allowed to be transported to

and Angadi was buried as per the COVID-19 protocol in the Lingayat-Veerashaiva burial ground at Sector 24, Dwarka in Delhi.

References

, -

External links

Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha - Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angadi, Suresh 1955 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka India MPs 2004–2009 People from Belgaum Kannada people India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka India MPs 2014–2019 India MPs 2019–2024 Narendra Modi ministry