'Oppn giving 'religious colour' to demand of renaming flyover after sufi saint'

Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale has accused the Opposition of trying to give a religious colour to his demand after his proposal of naming a flyover in Mumbai after Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti was opposed by Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP and Bharatiya Janata Party BJPShewale on Monday said he wrote a letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister demanding the Mankhurd flyover in Mumbai be named after Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti on the demands of the local peopleAs peoples representative it is my duty to convey the demands of the people to the government This flyover is on the border of the southcentral Lok Sabha constituency and MP Manoj Kotaks north east Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency I was not aware of the demand made by Kotak to rename the flyover after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj the Shiv Sena MP said in a statementHe further called Chhatrapati Shivaji a deity of Maharashtra and said if the flyover is named after him there will not be any opposition from Shiv Sena I have come to know that some people want this flyover to be named after Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe also The final decision on renaming the flyover will be taken by the BMC he saidHe further alleged that the Opposition is trying to give a religious angle to the matter It is regrettable that some people are trying to politicise the issue by creating misconceptions about it and giving it a religious colour The way I and Shiv Sena are being defamed on Social media is wrong I want to tell those people that we are already going through a terrible time due to COVID Shewale had sparked a row after he wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister demanding a flyover in Mumbai be named after Sufi saint Moinuddin ChishtiThe demand was opposed by BJP and VHP Addressing reporters Shriraj Nair VHP spokesperson in Mumbai had said the bridge being built in Mankhurd should be named after some eminent personality from Hindu culture otherwise the VHP will launch a huge protest whose further strategy will be decided when the time comesBJP leader Ram Kadam had said Shiv Sena remembers Lord Shri Ram whenever elections approach they chant in favour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj The Sena wants people to vote in the name of Ram vote in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and after coming to power Shiv Sena seems to be devoted to proPakistan ideas I demand from the Chief Minister that Mankhurd Bridge should be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj said KadamVice president of BJPs Maharashtra unit Kirit Somaiya had said It is being said that Mankhurd flyover will be named after Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Shiv Sena has left its saffron flag and is carrying a green flag in its hand Chishti was among the Sufi saints to arrive in India when Delhi was under the rule of Sultan IltutmishThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever