In the case of the 95-km expressway, while the Shiv Sena cried foul and said it be named after Marathi litterateur and humorist P L Deshpande as demanded by party supremo Bal Thackeray, the state government justified its decision on the grounds that Chavan had a “major share” in the development of Maharashtra.

Sena Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut, who is also the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamna, said the Sena would not allow this to happen. “We do not know how the name of Yashwantrao Chavan was suddenly brought into the forefront,” said Raut, adding that Thackeray was responsible for the construction of

the road during the tenure of the Sena-BJP government and had wanted the highway to be named after Deshpande.