Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that BJP’s brand of “corporate Hindutva” had reduced religious and national figures to mere marketing tools, especially in the naming of Mumbai Metro stations
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged that this practice reflects the BJP’s disregard for national pride and cultural heritage. File Pic
The Maharashtra Congress on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Mumbai Metro station names, accusing it of turning Hindutva into a “corporate and profit-driven” agenda by selling off the names of revered deities and national icons for commercial gain, reported the PTI.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that BJP’s brand of “corporate Hindutva” had reduced religious and national figures to mere marketing tools, especially in the naming of Mumbai Metro stations.
He pointed to stations such as Kotak Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, ICICI Lombard Siddhivinayak, HDFC Life Mahalaxmi, and Nippon India MF Acharya Atre, where corporate branding has been added to historically or culturally significant names, according to the PTI.
“Those who invoke Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in every speech must answer whether they endorse prefixing his name with a corporate sponsor,” Sawant said, demanding a clear response from the BJP, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, the news agency reported.
Sachin Sawant alleged that this practice reflects the BJP’s disregard for national pride and cultural heritage, accusing the party of prioritising corporate interests over public sentiment. He further stated that this is part of a broader strategy to distract from core issues such as unemployment, inflation, and agrarian distress.
The Congress leader also criticised the erasure of Congress leaders' names from public institutions, claiming that figures like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sanjay Gandhi are being deliberately removed to make space for corporate sponsorships, as per the PTI.
“After airports and ports, now even religious and heritage sites are being auctioned to corporates. This is the BJP’s hypocrisy — a party that talks of Sanatan Dharma while commercialising sacred names,” he said, the PTI reported.
Sawant also warned that Mumbai Metro Line-3 stations such as Kalbadevi and Sitladevi could soon follow the same route. “BJP’s Hindutva ends where corporate interest begins,” he remarked.
“This is not development; it is the sale of our culture, our faith, and our self-respect,” he concluded, adding that the people of Maharashtra will not tolerate such an insult to their icons and beliefs, the news agency reported.
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