File photo: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Samajwadi Party (SP) today said it will ask Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to name the 35-km long coastal road, that will connect the island city with Kandivali in North Mumbai, after former President late APJ Abdul Kalam.
SP lawmaker Abu Azmi told reporters outside Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also Mr Fadnavis, with a request to name the ambitious project after Dr Kalam.
"Kalam was a great person and naming the coastal road after him would be a befitting tribute," Mr Azmi said.
Mr Azmi's demand came three weeks after a Shiv Sena MLA wrote to the chief minister demanding that the road be named after late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
"Balasaheb Thackeray had a stature that has got Maharashtra not only national but international repute. Thus, I have demanded that this coastal road, which will be a one of kind project, be named after Balasaheb," Sena lawmaker Sunil Prabhu had said.
Mr Prabhu, in his letter, said that by naming the coastal road after Mr Thackeray, people coming to Mumbai from across the world would become aware of his contribution to the city.
Recently, the coastal road project had become a fresh topic for the BJP and Shiv Sena to squabble upon, as both parties claimed credit for it.
While the Sena said that the project was envisaged by it, the BJP maintained that it is the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has granted crucial approvals.