Congress, SDPI raise objections in MCC Council against naming road after Veer Savarkar

The ratification of an agenda naming a junction in Surathkal after Veer Savarkar led to commotion with Opposition parties Congress and SDPI raising objections to the proposal, here at the Council meeting of the Mangaluru City Corporation on Saturday.

The meeting was chaired by Mayor Jayananda Anchan.

As the meeting commenced, Opposition leader in the council Naveen D’Souza and SDPI member Shamshaad Aboobakkar raised objections to the ratification of the agenda that was tabled in the council meeting on September 30.

Even as heated arguments in favour of the proposal and against it continued, corporators of the BJP shouted pro-Savarkar slogans — "Deshapremi Veer Savarkar ki jai" — while the Opposition shouted slogans against Savarkar.

Opposition leader Naveen D’Souza and corporator Abdul Rauf said that the agenda of naming a junction in Surathkal after Veer Savarkar was tabled in a “supplement agenda” on the day of the meeting last month. As a result, they could not go through the agenda during the meeting.

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Chief Whip in the Council Premananda Shetty said the proposal to name a junction after Savarkar was mooted by Mangalore City North MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty. The council, in its meeting on October 30, 2021, had referred the proposal to the standing committee for submitting its recommendations.

All the government guidelines, including referring the proposal to the standing committee and calling for objections in two Kannada dailies, were followed before tabling the agenda for approval in the council. After the ratification of the agenda, it will be sent to the government for approval.

BJP corporators Sudheer Shetty and Shwetha termed Savarkar a patriot and objections to the proposal an insult to Savarkar.

Shetty said that during the tenure of Indira Gandhi, a postal stamp on Savarkar was released. The naming of a junction after Savarkar will not be stopped at any cost.

While raising slogans for Savarkar, corporator Shwetha termed Tipu Sultan as a pig. Later, she justified her statement by stating that the opposition had termed Veer Savarkar as traitor and hence “I called Tipu a pig.”

While raising objections to the ratification of the agenda on Savarkar, the Opposition members entered the well of the house and the meeting was disrupted. Meanwhile, Mayor Jayanand Anchan adjourned the council meeting for some time in view of the disruption.

The Opposition members also urged others not to accept the supplement agendas that were tabled at the meeting. To this, the mayor said that no supplement agenda will be tabled from the next council meeting.

Proposals on naming roads

A proposal on naming the road from Balmatta Collector Gate Circle to Ambedkar Circle after Athur Sadananda Shetty Circle was mooted by Mangalore City South MLA Vedavyasa Kamath and naming a Jeppu fish market circle after freedom fighter N S Kille was referred to the Town Planning and Reforms Standing Committee for a report. Meanwhile, the proposal to install a bust of Chatrapathi Shivaji at the Pumpwell Mahaveera Circle mooted by Chatrapathi Shivaji Marata Association was approved by the Council.