‘Corporate Hindutva’: Congress slams BJP for selling sacred names

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress on Saturday accused the BJP of turning Hindutva into a “corporate and profit-driven” agenda, claiming that sacred names and national icons are being “sold for money” and political gain.

Speaking at a press conference, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant criticised the renaming of several Mumbai Metro stations after corporate entities, including Kotak Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, ICICI Lombard Siddhivinayak, HDFC Life Mahalaxmi, and Nippon India MF Acharya Atre. He alleged that BJP’s “corporate Hindutva” has reduced deities and national figures to mere marketing tools.

Sawant demanded clarification from the ruling BJP, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar on whether they endorsed prefixing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s name with corporate brands. He further claimed that the party was diverting public attention from pressing issues such as unemployment, inflation, and farmers’ problems through “name-change politics.”

The Congress leader also accused the BJP of removing names of national leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sanjay Gandhi from public institutions while renaming others for corporate sponsorships. “They have shown their intolerance towards India’s first Prime Minister and other Congress icons,” Sawant said.

He added that after airports and ports, even religious and heritage sites are being “auctioned to corporates,” exposing what he called the BJP’s hypocrisy—a party that speaks of ‘Sanatan Dharma’ but allegedly sells sacred names for profit.

Sawant warned that the government might soon seek sponsors for Kalbadevi and Sitladevi stations on the newly launched Metro-3 (Aqua Line) as well. “BJP’s so-called Hindutva ends where corporate interest begins. This is not development but the sale of our culture, faith, and self-respect. The people of Maharashtra will not tolerate the insult of national icons and religious figures,” he said.

With PTI inputs