The Shinde government has renamed the Versova-Bandra Sea Link as Veer Savarkar Setu. Mumbai Trans Harbor Link has also been renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smriti Nhava Sheva Atal Setu. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had last month announced that the upcoming Bandra-Versova sea link in Mumbai would be named after Hindutva ideologue late VD Savarkar.
He had also said that a state level gallantry award similar to the one given by the central government would also be named after the freedom fighter. Speaking on the occasion of Savarkar’s birth anniversary on May 28, the chief minister had said, “The upcoming Bandra-Versova sealink will be named after Swatantryaveer Savarkar. On the lines of central government’s gallantry awards, the Maharashtra government will also give Swatantryaveer Savarkar Gallantry Award.” Has been done in the name of two great sects.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, or Veer Savarkar, was a Hindu nationalist leader and a firebrand revolutionary, while Atal Bihar Vajpayee was a former prime minister and one of the tallest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 1910, Savarkar was arrested and sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment in 1911. He was imprisoned in Andaman and Nicobar Islands Cellular Jail (Kala Pani) for 13 years. He wrote the book ‘Essentials of Hindutva’ in 1921. At the same time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India not once, not twice but thrice. Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India for three terms between 1996 and 2004.