Suresh Channabasappa Angadi (1 June 195523 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 in I ...

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 Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from

Belagavi Belgaum (ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

for four consecutive terms starting in 2004 (

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 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 Nationa ...

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

Political career

Angadi began his political career in 1996 with the

as the vice president of the party's Belagavi district 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

Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency Belgaum, officially Belagavi, Lok Sabha seat, is one of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. Vidhana Sabha segments The composition of Belgaum Lok Sabha seat has undergone several changes. In 1962, there were three ...

in 2004. He defeated his opponent, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

candidate, and became a Member of the

. He was then re-elected to Lok Sabha from Belagavi 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 title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

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

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. He also signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

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

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 and handed over to the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

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 kilometer route between Bangalore and

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

. 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 trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global ...

to drive energy efficiency and pilot projects aimed at setting up

net-zero building A Zero Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero Energy (NZE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy ...

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

Rajdhani express Rajdhani may refer to: * ''Rajdhani'' (film), 1956 Indian film * ''Rajadhani'' (1994 film), Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Rajadhani'' (2011 film), Indian Kannada-language film * Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan * Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, a ...

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 a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 11 September 2020, during the

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

, and was initially

asymptomatic In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asy ...

. He was later hospitalized at AIIMS hospital in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

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

Union minister The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

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–present Narendra Modi ministry