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CM: Govt will propose renaming Bengaluru Metro after Valmiki
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said his government will recommend renaming the Bengaluru Metro in honour of sage Valmiki, the revered author of the Ramayana
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said his government will recommend renaming the Bengaluru Metro in honour of sage Valmiki, the revered author of the Ramayana.
Speaking at the Valmiki Jayanti celebrations on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said the proposal would be sent to the Union government for approval, since the state cannot independently rename the metro system. “I cannot do it myself. Both the Centre and the state are running the metro. I will recommend it. The Centre has to agree. We need to see what happens,” he said.
The chief minister also said his government would review a suggestion made by Congress leader V S Ugrappa to include references to Valmiki and the Ramayana in school curricula. He added that the state had already allotted two acres of land for the proposed Valmiki Bhavan or Soudha and that funds for its construction would be provided in the next state budget.
Tuesday’s announcement comes weeks after Siddaramaiah made a similar statement at the closing ceremony of the Basava Culture Campaign 2025, where he said he would propose naming the metro after Basavanna, the 12th-century reformer and philosopher.
“I would recommend to the central government to name our metro as Basava Metro. If this were entirely a state government project, I would have announced it already,” he said.
Siddaramaiah pointed out that although the Karnataka government contributes a major share of the metro’s cost -- 87% compared to the Centre’s 13 % -- the final decision on renaming rests with the Union government.
The proposal to rename “Namma Metro” has generated mixed responses from the public. While some see it as a gesture of cultural recognition, others argue that the city’s metro name has become synonymous with Bengaluru’s identity and should remain unchanged.
