Demanding the Bandra-Worli sealink project be named after Swatantryaveer Savarkar instead of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Shiv Sena today staged protests over the issue.
"The Sena-BJP alliance government had decided to name the sealink after Savarkar," senior Sena leader Subhash Desai told reporters after the party workers staged a demonstration in suburban Bandra.
Deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, however, clarified that there is no record to show that the saffron alliance government had decided to christen the mega project after Savarkar.
Desai also demanded that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway be named after late Marathi writer P L Deshpande.
"Sena-BJP government, which conceptualised the sealink, had announced that it would be named after Savarkar. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has no right to suggest Rajiv Gandhi's name," Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said.
The Communist Party of India, on the other hand, favours the technological marvel being named after legendary Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre. "Angre fought British to liberate the island Mumbai," CPI leader Prakash Reddy said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has accused the Sena-BJP alliance of politicising the naming of the construction marvel.
