Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has decided to name two of its showpiece projects, that are currently under construction, after Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) founder and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led cabinet approved the proposal to name the two projects in its weekly meeting Wednesday.
Accordingly, the Versova-Bandra Sea Link will be named after “Swatantraveer Savarkar”, while the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be known as “Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Sewri Nhava Sheva Atal Setu”, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The announcement in this regard comes three months after Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis made a written request to CM Shinde about naming the Versova-Bandra Sea Link after Savarkar, MTHL after Vajpayee and the under-construction Mumbai Coastal Road project after 17th-Century Maratha ruler Sambhaji. Shinde had earlier made verbal commitments in his public speeches and interactions about naming the Mumbai Coastal Road project and Versova-Bandra Sea Link in accordance with Fadnavis’s suggestions.
The MTHL, which will be named after Vajpayee, is likely to be opened for public use by the end of this year. The Rs 17,843-crore project is touted to be the longest sea link in the country and has witnessed many technological firsts during its construction.
Once completed, the 22-km MTHL will serve as a key connector to the under-construction Navi Mumbai Airport, which the Shinde-led cabinet had last year decided to name after former legislator late D.B. Patil — a local hero who led several farmers’ and landowners’ protests in the 1970s and 1980s — in response to a longstanding demand by locals.
The Versova-Bandra Sea Link, which is the northward extension of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and is pegged to cost Rs 11,332 crore, is expected to be complete by 2025-26. The Bandra-Worli Sea Link was inaugurated during the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) reign in Maharashtra and was named after former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
Both ruling parties, the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, have been projecting Savarkar as their icon while competing with the Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) over their commitment to Hindutva, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls.
In April, both parties led ‘Savarkar Gaurav yatras’ across Maharashtra to highlight the life and achievements of the Hindu Mahasabha leader, and their own supposed commitment to his ideology. The state government also has plans to develop a ‘Swatantraveer Savarkar theme park’ in Bhagur village of Nashik district where Savarkar was born in 1883.
The ruling coalition’s emphasis on Savarkar intensified after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegedly objectionable remarks over him leader sparked a conflict with the Shiv Sena (UBT). The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) are allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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