Fadnavis slams Karnataka CM over renaming of Bengaluru Metro station

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in Mumbai, on Thursday (September 11, 2025) hit out at his Karnataka counterpart K. Siddaramaiah for the proposal to rename the Shivaji Nagar Metro Station in Bengaluru as St. Mary station. He accused the Congress Chief Minister of setting up an alternative religious system, and drawing a wedge between communities.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena UBT, an ally of the Congress, appealed to the Karnataka Chief Minister to reconsider the decision. “History will not forgive you if you rename the station,” said Anand Dubey, spokesperson of the Shiv Sena UBT.

Mr. Fadnavis said, “I strongly condemn the decision to rename the Shivaji Nagar station as St. Mary station. What the Karnataka Congress government is trying to do is to insult Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. I am pained by it, but am not surprised. The tradition of insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has been existent in Congress since pre-Independence times. May it be Jawaharlal Nehru, his comments on Shivaji Maharaj in his book Discovery of India, he had made such kinds of statements against Maharaj.”

Mr. Fadnavis also accused the Karnataka Chief Minister of driving a wedge between communities. “I pray to God to give good sense to the Congress Chief Minister. The country saw ‘Swarajya’ because of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. For him to replace the name of the station with another name is an attempt to set up an alternative religious system and to draw a wedge between communities. I pray that he does not end up doing it,” he said.

‘Respect our sentiments’

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena UBT appealed to the Congress to name the station after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “We want to tell the Karnataka Chief Minister, you are our neighbour, our ally. Please keep the name after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This is a matter concerning our sentiments, our self-respect. Maharashtra and Karnataka have always enjoyed good relations. Please respect our sentiments, and we will respect yours. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is deified not just in Maharashtra, but in the entire country. He formulated Hindavi Swarajya. The entire world knows about it. Please name the Metro station after him. It will send out a good message across the country. If you fail to do it, history will not forgive you,” said Mr. Dubey.

He said the party did not want to politicise the issue, and appealed to the BJP to not do so. “The BJP has no moral right to say anything about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. They have not yet completed the monument of Maharaj in the Arabian Sea. They should stop using his name for political gains,” the Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson said.

Shivajinagar Metro station is an upcoming underground station on the Pink Line of Bengaluru Metro, also called ‘Namma Metro’, where construction work is underway.

The station is named after the Shivajinagar area surrounded by key landmarks such as Commercial Street, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and St. Mary’s Basilica in the city.

On Monday (September 8, 2025), while participating in the annual feast celebrations at St. Mary’s Basilica, Mr. Siddaramaiah promised that the station would be renamed after St. Mary.

However, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, the agency responsible for implementing, building, operating, and expanding the city’s metro network, has not issued an official statement regarding this proposal.