MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Education Ministry requesting that IIT-Bombay be officially renamed IIT-Mumbai, after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) criticized Union minister Jitendra Singh’s recent comments on the issue.The row erupted after Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology, remarked during an event at IIT-Bombay on Monday: “As far as IIT Bombay is concerned, thank god it still is this name. You have not changed it to Mumbai.” He added that the same was true for IIT Madras, which continues to retain its earlier name. Raj Thackeray’s MNS accused Singh of insulting Maharashtra. Party leader Gajanan Kale said BJP leaders “never miss an opportunity to insult Marathi, Mumbai and Maharashtra” and demanded that Mumbai BJP president Amit Satam and state minister Ashish Shelar visit Bal Thackeray’s memorial to apologize for the remarks.
