Mangaluru: What’s in the name?
Plenty, for politicians of this coastal city, though the Bard’s famous quote goes that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
The upshot: A new board on a street in Kadri near the Circuit House in the city, which read “Swami Vivekananda Road,” soon made way for another, “Kadri Jogi Mutt Street,” as local leaders of BJP and Congress resorted to a game of one-upmanship.
On Thursday, as part of Vivekananda Jayanti celebrations Kadri ward corporator Roopa D Bangera (BJP) got the street board “Swami Vivekananda Road” installed and was inaugurated by Kadri Jogi Mutt Seer.
The board, however, was removed within two hours, by officers of MCC, with Mayor Harinath claiming that the original name of the road was “Kadri Jogi Mutt Street.” “There was a board with the same name, but the BJP corporator removed it and installed the new board. As it is a violation of rules, the MCC removed the board,” Mr Harinath said.
Mrs Roopa Bangera, however, maintained “We did not rename the street. It was always known as Vivekananda Road. The Election Commission ward map names the road as ‘Vivekananda Road.’ Can the Election Commission provide wrong information? This board was installed with my area development fund and costs about Rs 50,000. I did not have any political intention. On the board, I have mentioned the MCC logo. We did not invite the Mayor as it was a small programme in my ward,” she added.
