K'taka: Activists detained for protesting against Suresh Angadi's oath taking in English

Bengaluru, June 19: Karnataka Police detained members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike who were protesting in Belgaum against Minister of State Railways Suresh Angadi, the 63-year-old four-time Member of Parliament from Belagavi (earlier known as Belgaum) for taking oath in English in Lok Sabha.

Angadi hails from the dominant Lingayat community and won a seat in the Lok Sabha in 2004. He retained that seat in 2019 for the fourth time.

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha election, he defeated Congress candidate V S Sadhunnavar.

Angadi, a commerce graduate who also did a course in law, started his political career actively in 1996 when he was made the Belgaum district BJP vice president. In 2001, he was nominated as the Belgaum district president of BJP.

Three years after rising to the post of district president, Angadi was given the ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election by the BJP.

Without missing a chance, he emerged as a giant killer by defeating Congress candidate and the then sitting MP Amarsinh Patil.

Angadi was among three other parliamentarians from Karnataka who landed a ministerial berth from Karnataka.

Angadi has an attendance percentage of over 90%, participated in 38 debates and posed 26 questions from 1 June 2014 to 13 February 2019, against a national average of 293 and state average of 373, according to data by PRS Legislative research.

Angadi had served as BJP vice-president of the Belagavi district in 1996-99 and later as the unit's president from 2001-04. Angadi also served on the committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, consultative committee on Finance and Human Resource Development, among others. Angadi and his wife Mangal have two daughters.