BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s assurance that the state government will recommend to the Centre to consider a proposal to name any Metro station in Shivajinagar after St Mary has sparked a debate on social media.
Siddaramaiah gave this assurance while participating in St Mary’s Feast here on Monday. Soon, many citizens took to social media platforms demanding that a station be named after the late actor and director Shankar Nag, who studied the Metro rail network of other countries decades ago and pushed for an urban rail network in Bengaluru.
Several of them expressed disappointment stating that certain eminent personalities are being ignored when it comes to honouring them in recognition of their contributions to society.
“Shankar Nag was an exception in movies who had the interests of Bengaluru and Karnataka at heart. He wanted to make the city like Singapore and even bore expenses to study their technology,” wrote Sneha.
Echoing her views, Shodhan Kundapura, said, “The man who dreamt of Bengaluru Metro is still waiting for a station in his name. This is pure injustice for Shankar Nag.”
“CM Siddaramaiah has approved the proposal to name a Metro station in Bengaluru as ‘St Mary’. Kannadigas have been demanding for several days that the Metro be named after Shankar Nag, but Siddaramaiah has opted to name it after St Mary,” Madhukumar VP said.
The demand for naming a Metro station after Shankar Nag gained momentum in the recent past with the launch of new Metro lines. With Siddaramaiah’s assurance to St Mary’s devotees, the debate has taken centre stage.