Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh had stated at a function at IIT Bombay on Monday that “As far as IIT Bombay is concerned, thank God it still has this name. You have not changed it to Mumbai. So that’s another compliment to you. And also true for Madras. It remains IIT Madras”.
Photo: IANS
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday promised to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over renaming IIT Bombay to IIT Mumbai, after MNS chief Raj Thackeray severely criticised Union minister Jitendra Singh’s recent statement of being happy that IIT Bombay was not renamed as IIT Mumbai.
Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh had stated at a function at IIT Bombay on Monday that “As far as IIT Bombay is concerned, thank God it still has this name. You have not changed it to Mumbai. So that’s another compliment to you. And also true for Madras. It remains IIT Madras”.
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Dr Jitendra Singh’s statement about IIT Bombay raised a huge controversy and MNS chief Raj Thackeray reacted to it saying, “There is an attempt to connect Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to Gujarat. Jitendra Singh’s statement is a symbol of the government’s mentality. The nausea in the stomach of those against Maharashtra has come out again.
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“What is Jitendra Singh’s connection with Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat? Jitendra Singh is from Jammu, he wants to get praised for saying this. All Marathi people must open your eyes now”.
After Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh’s statement, thye MNS became aggressive and put up a poster right in front of IIT Mumbai’s Powai campus with the text ‘IIT Mumbai’ instead of IIT Bombay as it is presently known.
Reacting to MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s aggressive statement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The biggest contribution for changing the name of Bombay city to Mumbai is due to BJP leader Rambhau Naik. For us, it is not Bombay, but Mumbai. All traces of Bombay should be erased and Mumbai should be everywhere.
“I will personally write a letter to the Prime Minister and Human Resource Minister of the country requesting them to change the name of IIT Bombay to IIT Mumbai,” he said.
Fadnavis also took a dig at MNS leader Raj Thackeray, saying that “Some people conveniently never request that the name of the school where their children are studying to be changed”, indirectly referring to Raj Thackeray’s children Amit Thackeray and Urvashi Thackeray, who studied at the elite English medium convent Bombay Scottish School at Mahim West, near Hinduja Hospital.
However, on January 14, 2015, Fadnavis himself had tweeted photographs on his X handle, showing him attending the ‘Daddy’s Day Out’ event at South Mumbai’s prestigious Cathedral & John Connon School, where his daughter Divija Fadnavis is a student.
Similarly, Yash Sardesai, the son of senior MNS leader Nitin Sardesai, studied in King George High School, Dadar, while Nashik MNS leader Nitin Bhosale’s son Pruthvish studied in Fravashi International Academy, Nashik, which is an elite English medium school, run by a Parsi trust called the Ratanshaw Sorabjee Luth Trust.
Kalyan MNS leader Ramesh Patil’s sons Vicky and Vaibhav studied at Saint Teresa’s School, Dombivli, while Aurangabad MNS leader Harshwardhan Jadhav’s son Adityawardhan Jadhav also attended a well known English medium school.
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