Siddaramaiah's ‘promise’ to rename Bengaluru's Shivajinagar metro to St Mary stirs row: ‘Insult to…’

The BJP has slammed the move, while calling it an “insult” to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's “promise” to rename an upcoming metro station in Shivajinagar of Bengaluru after St Mary has stirred a row, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slamming the proposal as an insult to Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Siddaramaiah said that he had recommended to the Centre that the upcoming metro station be named after St Mary.(ANI/ CMO Karnataka)

The Karnataka CM had, during a recent event in Shivajinagar's St Mary's Basilica, said that he had recommended to Centre that the upcoming metro station be named after St Mary.

This drew a sharp response from Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, who condemned the plan. “I condemn the Karnataka government's move to rename Shivajinagar metro station in Bengaluru after St Mary. Its an insult to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” PTI news agency quoted Fadnavis as saying.

Fadnavis alleged that Congress had a “tradition of insulting” the Maratha warrior king from “the time of Nehru who made comments against Shivaji Maharaj in his book Discovery of India.”

The Maharashtra CM further stated that he had been praying that the “Almighty gives Siddaramaiah sense” to not go ahead with the plan, which was based on religion and was against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, according to PTI.

Maharashtra BJP MLC Chitra Wagh said that the move had “exposed” the Congress's “hatred” of Shivaji Maharaj, NDTV reported.

“Congress MLA Rizwan (Arshad) demanded that Bengaluru's Shivajinagar metro station be renamed after St Mary,” Wagh alleged, adding that Siddaramaiah had sent a proposal to the Centre for the “name change”. Wagh further called on the Maharashtra Congress to “clarify its position” on the matter.

While claiming that “appeasement” had become the “first choice” for the Congress party, Karnataka BJP leader Chalwadi Narayan Swami also launched criticism against the plan. “Will they remove the name Shivajinagar? They should not go beyond the limits,” Swami, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, said.

Swami further alleged that the Congress had faced losses because of appeasement. “Still, they are maintaining appeasement politics. We will not allow this,” NDTV quoted Swami as saying.