Samajwadi Party wants the project to be named after A.P.J Abdul Kalam while Sena proposes Bal Thackeray’s name.
SP MLA Abu Azmi said that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, with a request to name the ambitious project after Kalam. “Kalam was a great person and naming the coastal road after him would be a befitting tribute,” Azmi said.
Azmi’s demand came three weeks after a Shiv Sena MLA wrote to the chief minister demanding that the road be named after late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
“Balasaheb Thackeray had a stature that has got Maharashtra not only national but international repute. Thus, I have demanded that this coastal road, which will be a one of kind project, be named after Balasaheb,” Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu had said. Prabhu, in his letter, said that by naming the coastal road after Thackeray, people coming to Mumbai from across the world would become aware of his contribution to the city.
Recently, the coastal road project had become a fresh topic for the BJP and Shiv Sena to squabble upon, as both parties claimed credit for it.
While the Sena said that the project was envisaged by it, the BJP maintained that it is the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has granted crucial approvals.
The BMC extended the deadline for receiving suggestions and objections from residents on the ambitious coastal road project. The civic body will now receive the ideas and suggestions till August 27, 2015. The earlier date for submitting suggestions was July 27.
On the other hand, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly paid rich tributes to former President APJ Abdul Kalam. Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, PWP leader Ganpatrao Deshmukh, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde were prominent among those who spoke on the occasion.
Education Minister Vinod Tawde said the state government will celebrate Kalam’s birth anniversary on October 15 as “Vaachan (reading) Prerna Diwas” in schools.
The state government had not declared any holiday for schools and colleges on Tuesday, following the death of ex-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The government has declared a national mourning period of 7 days, Union Home Secretary LC Goyal had earlier said.