Expressway name sparks controversy

A state government communiqué released on Wednesday said: "The Mumbai-Pune Expressway has been named as Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting. The contribution of Yashwantrao Chavan in the development of Maharashtra is unparalleled. This year we are also celebrating the golden jubilee of Maharashtra. The proposal to name the expressway in memory of Chavan was under consideration of the government. And the decision was taken."

The saffron alliance during whose tenure the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was constructed had demanded that the expressway be named after renowned Marathi poet and writer P.L. Deshpande.

But the Congress-NCP led Democratic Front government in the state announced the naming of the expressway after Chavan, which had stirred another controversy with the SS-BJP alliance screaming foul.

The Sena had launched an agitation after the state government had named the Bandra-Worli Sea Link after Rajiv, demanding that the government name the bridge after militant Hindu leader Veer Savarkar instead of Rajiv. It had then demanded that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway be named after Deshpande.

Vimla Mundada, the state minister for public works department said here Wednesday, that the government had taken a decision to name the expressway after Chavan, and that the government had issued the government resolution to this effect.

The working president of the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray reacting on the naming the expressway said, "The expressway had already been named after Deshpande. By renaming the expressway after Chavan, the state government had insulted a great Maharashtrain personality";Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.