The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday gave approval to name the Versova-Bandra Sea Link after Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, reported PTI.
On May 28, the 140th birth anniversary of Savarkar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had announced that the bridge will be renamed “Veer Savarkar Setu”.
The 17 kilometer-long sea link, which is under construction, will connect Andheri to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link as part of the coastal road.
After the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Shinde also said that the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will be named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The bridge will be known as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Nhava Sheva Atal Setu. The infrastructure project, which is expected to be completed by December, will connect Mumbai to Navi Mumbai.
Wednesday’s development is in line with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva push.
Last month, the coalition government had renamed Ahmednagar district after the 18th-century warrior queen Ahilya Devi Holkar.
Last year, the coalition government had renamed Aurangabad and Osmanabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv. However, this decision had been announced by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Aurangabad was named after Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It is now named after 17th-century ruler Sambhaji, who was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire. Renaming Aurangabad had long been on the Shiv Sena’s political agenda with party founder Bal Thackeray first raising the demand in 1988.
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