BJP MLA in Mumbai wants Gateway of India renamed to ‘Bharatdwar’

Mumbai city news: According to Raj Purohit, the Gateway of India, which was built in December 1924 to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder, is a “symbol of slavery to the British”.

A BJP legislator on Saturday called for the Gateway of India to be renamed to ‘Bharatdwar’.

BJP MLA Raj Purohit said that India should let go of its ‘colonial hangover’. (HT file photo)

This is not the first time that Raj Purohit from Colaba has asked for British-era names to be changed. Earlier, Purohit had called for Marine Lines railway station to be renamed to Mumbadevi.

According to him, the Gateway of India, which was built in December 1924 to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder, is a “symbol of slavery to the British”.

“I am going to write to Maharashtra chief minister and Mumbai Port Trust committee to rename Gateway of India to Bharatdwar,” said Purohit.

He added that India should let go of its ‘colonial hangover’. “The slavery is gone now. Names of many suburban railway stations have been changed. The city was named Bombay by the British, it was changed to Mumbai. Hence, Gateway (of India) should be called Bharatdwar along the same lines,” he said.

The BJP-Shiv Sena government wants to change names of seven suburban railway stations: Mumbai Central, Charni Road stations on Western Railway, Currey Road on Central Railway and Sandhurst Road, Cotton Green and Reay Road stations on the Harbour Line.

Meanwhile, Elphinstone station has been renamed to Prabhadevi, name of a local deity in the area; Oshiwara has been rechristened Ram Mandir.

Moreover, the name of city’s oldest railway terminus’ Victoria Terminus was changed to Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus.