Maharashtra assembly clears renaming of Mumbai Central terminus, Aurangabad airport

MUMBAI: Meanwhile, RPI (A) chief and Union minister of state, Ramdas Athavale , wants the state to reconsider its decision and name Mumbai Central station after Dr B A Ambedkar. According to Athavale, the state should recommend Grant Road station to be named after Nana Shankar Sheth Gajbhiye, while referring to the state government’s decision to rename Aurangabad Airport and Mumbai Central Railway station , said Chaityabhoomi at Dadar (W) is a revered place for the Dalit community.“Lakhs of people come to Chaityabhoomi where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s body has been cremated. Hence, the railway station should be named after Ambedkar,” said Gajbhiye.The NCP MLC also insisted that the state should send a recommendation to the Union government to rename Dadar.Dr Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the council, however, said the demand would not be treated as a proposal as it did not follow the procedure, but could be taken as a suggestion.NCP MLC, Hemant Takle, seconded the demand. “The state government should convert the demand into a proposal and table it before the next state legislative session.”The Maharashtra assembly on Friday cleared the renaming of Aurangabad airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj airport, after the son of the Maratha king, Shivaji. It also approved the proposal to rename Mumbai Central Railway terminus as Nana Shankarsheth Central Terminus after the philanthropist. The proposals will be forwarded to the Central government. The renaming issue saw a war of words between the government and Opposition BJP in the assembly.