Sena takes on MNS in mad rush over Neerja
After MNS inaugurates Mahim chowk named after Neerja, Sena vows to not be left behind.
Taking the political hullabaloo over naming chowksand installing plaques after Neerja Bhanot a notch higher, the Shiv Sena has decided to go ahead with their plans of installing a plaque bearing the youngest Ashok Chakra recipient’s name and story near her school in Mahim, despite its rival Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) already having named a chowk there after her.
Mirror had reported about the political agenda that gained ground in the city after the Hindi feature film Neerja — a biopic on Pan Am purser Neerja Bhanot — became a hit. All the netas seemed to be in a rush to name every chowk that caught their eyes first after her.
However, this chowk became a bone of contention between the MNS and the Sena as the latter claimed that this idea originally belonged to party scion Aaditya Thackeray. Sena sources said that Aaditya had received requests from ace photographer Atul Kasbekar and actor Sonam Kapoor to get the chowk near the school, where even Aaditya studied, named after Neerja.
“Aadityaji wanted to honour Neerja for her heroics. So local Shiv Sena legislator Sada Sarvankar moved the proposal before the BMC. However since the BMC said it would be better if a corporator makes the request, we let Manish Chavan do it,” a Sena functionary said.
While the inauguration was supposed to be a joint Shiv Sena-MNS event, Chavan beat Sena to the punch by staging a solo inauguration show.
A disgruntled Aaditya was quick to respond on Twitter: “MLA @SadaSarvankar ji first tabled it but it needs local Corporator to table it in BMC. I thank local Corporator for honouring our request. The plaque can't just have the name of Neerja, it must carry her story, next week it shall be up.”
“We got all the paper-work done. In fact, when the issue came up for approval before the group leaders, it was the Sena that supported it. However, the MNS went ahead with the inauguration so we will now get the plaque installed with her story,” an equally disgruntled Sena added.
However, it must be noted that all the politicians conveniently forgot that a chowk in Ghatkopar had already been named after the heroic Neerja.
ABMC official said that in the early 1990s, a chowk in Ghatkopar (E) was named ‘Neerja Bhanot Chowk’, and it was only removed in 2009 when the roads were being concretised. The locals still refer to the stretch as the Neerja Chowk, which had been inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan.
However, there is no limit on the number of chowks/roads that can be named after a particular person as long as it is not in the same locality.
The above reasoning seems to be behind the mad rush to name as many chowks after Neerja as the parties can.
Not willing to be left behind, the BJP is planning to re-inaugurate a revamped version of the old Ghatkopar chowk.
Local BJP corporator Falguni Dave said that Amitabh Bachchan could be invited again to reinstall the plaque. "We have written to the BMC to reinstall the plaque. Senior party leaders will be inviting Bachchan this time around as well," she said.
Taking the political hullabaloo over naming chowksand installing plaques after Neerja Bhanot a notch higher, the Shiv Sena has decided to go ahead with their plans of installing a plaque bearing the youngest Ashok Chakra recipient’s name and story near her school in Mahim, despite its rival Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) already having named a chowk there after her.
Mirror had reported about the political agenda that gained ground in the city after the Hindi feature film Neerja — a biopic on Pan Am purser Neerja Bhanot — became a hit. All the netas seemed to be in a rush to name every chowk that caught their eyes first after her.
This led to MNS’ Sharmila Thackeray inaugurating the chowk near Bombay Scottish School in Mahim (west), following the proposal for the same by the party’s corporator Manish Chavan.
However, this chowk became a bone of contention between the MNS and the Sena as the latter claimed that this idea originally belonged to party scion Aaditya Thackeray. Sena sources said that Aaditya had received requests from ace photographer Atul Kasbekar and actor Sonam Kapoor to get the chowk near the school, where even Aaditya studied, named after Neerja.
“Aadityaji wanted to honour Neerja for her heroics. So local Shiv Sena legislator Sada Sarvankar moved the proposal before the BMC. However since the BMC said it would be better if a corporator makes the request, we let Manish Chavan do it,” a Sena functionary said.
While the inauguration was supposed to be a joint Shiv Sena-MNS event, Chavan beat Sena to the punch by staging a solo inauguration show.
A disgruntled Aaditya was quick to respond on Twitter: “MLA @SadaSarvankar ji first tabled it but it needs local Corporator to table it in BMC. I thank local Corporator for honouring our request. The plaque can't just have the name of Neerja, it must carry her story, next week it shall be up.”
“We got all the paper-work done. In fact, when the issue came up for approval before the group leaders, it was the Sena that supported it. However, the MNS went ahead with the inauguration so we will now get the plaque installed with her story,” an equally disgruntled Sena added.
However, it must be noted that all the politicians conveniently forgot that a chowk in Ghatkopar had already been named after the heroic Neerja.
ABMC official said that in the early 1990s, a chowk in Ghatkopar (E) was named ‘Neerja Bhanot Chowk’, and it was only removed in 2009 when the roads were being concretised. The locals still refer to the stretch as the Neerja Chowk, which had been inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan.
However, there is no limit on the number of chowks/roads that can be named after a particular person as long as it is not in the same locality.
The above reasoning seems to be behind the mad rush to name as many chowks after Neerja as the parties can.
Not willing to be left behind, the BJP is planning to re-inaugurate a revamped version of the old Ghatkopar chowk.
Local BJP corporator Falguni Dave said that Amitabh Bachchan could be invited again to reinstall the plaque. "We have written to the BMC to reinstall the plaque. Senior party leaders will be inviting Bachchan this time around as well," she said.
