The face-off is over the naming of the Lalbaug flyover, the construction of which is at a premature stage.
The Shiv Sena’s ever-willingness to fight naming wars, by now an inseparable part of its identity, has turned into a source of embarrassment for the party as two of its leaders have officially proposed different names for a flyover which is yet to be constructed.
The face-off is over the naming of the Lalbaug flyover, the construction of which is at a premature stage. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is constructing five flyovers on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road to ensure smoother flow of traffic. As part of the design, the authority demolished the old flyover at the Lalbaug junction to construct a longer one which will also go over the Bharatmata junction.
Two Sena leaders have sent separate proposals to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) suggesting different names for the new flyover. While Shiv Sena leader and local ex-MLA Dagdu Sakpal has asked the BMC to keep the old name, another Sena leader and MLA Ravindra Waikar has proposed to name it Comrade Shripad Amrut Dange flyover. Dagde is the founding member of the Communist Party of India, and a stalwart of the country’s trade union movement.
The bridge was earlier named Sant Dyaneshwar bridge. Sakpal recently wrote a letter to the BMC’s group leader to keep the name after the completion of the bridge. Interestingly, Sakpal had earlier demanded the demolition of the same bridge as it was obstructing the procession of Lalabaug Cha Raja.
Both the suggestion letters are pending with the BMC’s group leaders, and a final decision is expected to be made soon.
According to Sakpal, “The earlier bridge was named after Sant Dyaneshwar, who is the founder of the Varkari community. I have asked the BMC to keep the name as almost all Maharashtrians are followers of Sant Dyaneshwar.”
When contacted, Waikar said he was not aware of the proposal sent by Sakpal. “Dange is a great leader of the trade union movement, and Lalbaug was the bastion of the trade union movement once upon a time. Hence, I proposed his name.” When informed about Sakpal’s suggestion, he said, “If there is another naming proposal, and if it is more appropriate, I will withdraw mine.”
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