MYSURU: In his second stint in the Lok Sabha, Mysore-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha has set his goal for his constituency: Road, rail and air connectivity. The plan is to make Mysuru a major destination in the next five years.
Taking the Mysuru-Bengaluru expressway towards reality, resumption of daily Bengaluru-Kannur Express, popularly known as Mangaluru train, new broad gauge train between Mysuru and Kushalnagar (though still in a stage of infancy), Simha has a slew of plans which are in public domain.
A second terminal for train coaches is planned at Naganahalli on the outskirts of Mysuru, followed by extension of services of the Mumbai-Bengaluru City Udyan daily train to Mysuru, extending Bengaluru City-Kochuveli-Bengaluru City Express to and from Mysuru, stoppage of ‘Vishwamanava Express’ at
Chamarajapuram railway station, to name a few.
On the air connectivity front, regular flights between Mysuru and Bengaluru were resumed recently from Mysuru Airport at Mandakalli, with similar services between Mysuru and Goa, Kochi and other routes on the anvil.
Simha had recently expressed his commitment to opening Kendriya Vidyalayas in four areas of Mysuru city, against the existing solo school, to address the increase in demand. Tapping the city’s tourism potential and improving connectivity to other major cities in the south is on top of his mind.
For Simha, it’s been a transition from a career journalist to a career politician. When the BJP had fielded the political novice and well-known columnist from Mysore-Kodagu constituency in 2014, it had raised many eyebrows. He was pitted against seasoned politician and sitting MP A H Vishwanath, who was also a former minister with close to four decades of experience. When the results were announced, Simha surprised all by winning with a margin of over 30,000 votes.
A native of Sakleshpur in Hassan district, Simha has a postgraduate degree in journalism and mass communication from Mangalore University. He joined ‘Vijaya Karnataka’, a Kannada daily, in 1999. Even as a trainee, his penchant for writing was noticed by then executive editor Vishweshwar Bhat. With a strong right-wing bent, he endeared himself to hardcore Hindutva fans, but also earned the wrath of leftists, and found himself on the hitlist of a terror organisation.
Though speculation was rife about the BJP looking for a fresh face from Mysore-Kodagu constituency ahead of the 2014 elections, many in party circles were aghast. C H Vijayashankar (now with Congress) had won twice on a BJP ticket from erstwhile Mysore LS seat, before losing to Vishwanath in 2009 (when Kodagu was carved out of Mangaluru and merged with Mysuru LS constituency). Even as Vijayashankar was preparing for the hustings, he did not find his name in the first list released by the party. The second list was announced with Simha as Mysore candidate and Vijayashankar was to fight from Hassan.
It was fate that brought him to Mysuru, and he still recalls being indebted to Mysureans, who welcomed him with ‘open arms’.