Fadnavis condemns renaming of Bengaluru’s Shivaji Nagar Metro Station; Shiv Sena UBT urges Karnataka CM to reconsider proposal

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the proposal to rename the proposed Shivaji Nagar Metro Station in Bengaluru as St. Mary Station.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Fadnavis accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of setting up an alternative religious system and drawing a wedge between communities. “I strongly condemn the decision to rename Shivaji Nagar station as St. Mary station. What the Congress government in Karnataka is trying to do is insult Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. I am pained by it, but am not surprised. The tradition of insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has been existent in Congress since pre-independence times, may it be Jawaharlal Nehru. He had made such kinds of statements against Shivaji Maharaj in his book Discovery of India,” Mr. Fadnavis said when asked about the proposal.

He accused the Karnataka CM of driving a wedge between communities. “I pray to God to give good sense to the Congress Chief Minister. The country saw ‘Swarajya’ because of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. For him to replace the name of the station with another name is an attempt to set up an alternative religious system and to draw a wedge between communities. I pray that he does not end up doing it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena UBT, an ally of the Congress, has appealed to the Karnataka CM to reconsider the proposal. “History will not forgive you if you rename the station,” Anand Dubey, spokesperson of the Shiv Sena UBT, said on Thursday.

Mr. Dubey appealed to Mr. Siddaramaiah to keep the name of the station after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “We want to tell the Karnataka CM, you are our neighbour, our ally. Please keep the name after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This is a matter concerning our sentiments, our self-respect. Maharashtra and Karnataka have always enjoyed good relations. Please respect our sentiments, and we will respect yours. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is deified not just in Maharashtra, but in the entire country. He formulated Hindavi Swarajya. The entire world knows about it. Please name the metro station after him. It will send out a good message across the country. If you fail to do it, history will not forgive you,” Anand Dubey, spokesperson of the party, said.

He said the party did not want to politicise the issue, and appealed to the BJP not to do so. “BJP has no moral right to say anything about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. They have not yet completed the monument of Maharaj in the Arabian Sea. They should stop using his name for political gains,” he said.

Shivajinagar Metro Station is an upcoming underground station on the Pink Line of Bengaluru metro, also called ‘Namma Metro’, where construction work is currently under way.

The station is named after the Shivajinagar area, surrounded by key landmarks such as Commercial Street, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and St. Mary’s Basilica in the city.

On Monday, while participating in the annual feast celebrations at St. Mary’s Basilica, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised to rename the station after St. Mary. However, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the agency responsible for implementing, building, operating, and expanding the city’s metro network, has not issued an official statement regarding this proposal.