The story so far: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on September 11, 2025, lashed out at his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah for proposing to rename the Shivajinagar Metro Station in Bengaluru as St. Mary’s Metro Station. He likened the move to “insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj” and accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of “setting up an alternative religious system”.
Why has the proposal for a name change come up now? What did Mr. Siddaramaiah say? How has the Opposition in Karnataka reacted to this?
Where is Shivajinagar station?
At the centre of the controversy is the Shivajinagar Metro station, an underground station which is part of the Pink Line of the Namma Metro network in Bengaluru. The highly-anticipated corridor is under construction and is expected to open in two stages by September 2026.
The 13.76-km stretch, which will be Bengaluru’s longest underground metro line, will connect Dairy Circle to Nagawara, and will pass through the densely-populated central hubs and neigbourhoods, which includes Shivajinagar.
