Mumbai: After renaming Oshiwara station as Ram Mandir, the demand to rename other railway stations has picked up pace. Now, there is a fresh demand to rename Marine Lines as Mumbadevi. Mumbai BJP MLA Raj Purohit has made the demand. Mr Purohit has written a letter to railway minister Suresh Prabhu and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to change the name of Marine Lines railway station to Mumbadevi station.
Mr Purohit is elected member of assembly from Colaba constituency. The famous temple of Mumbadevi is located in his constituency. Lakhs of devotees visit Mumbadevi temple every year and seek her blessings. It is believed that name of the city is derived from the goddess Mumbadevi. The Marine Lines station is closest to the Mumbadevi temple. Citing this reason, Mr Purohit demanded renaming it as Mumbadevi station.
Mr Purohit met Mr Fadnavis and Mr Prabhu on Monday and again made a request to rename the station. It may be recalled that the Shiv Sena recently demanded renaming of eight stations. The Sena has demanded to rename Mumbai Central as Jagannath Shankar Sheth station. The renaming of Oshiwara station as Ram Mandir created a lot of controversy. There are demands to rename other stations as well — Elphinstone, Charni Road, Sandhurst Road and Grant Road among others.
However, the decision of changing name of a station belongs to the state government and hence, the MLA and MPs play a role in it. After the renaming of Ram Mandir station, the Shiv Sena and BJP leaders got into an ugly spat to claim credit for the same. Sena MP Gajanan Kitikar had tried to take credit and even created a small rukus near the station during the inauguration of the station.
