Activist Tushar Damgude Urges CM Devendra Fadnavis To Name Mumbai-Pune Missing Link Project After Umaji Naik

Pune: Pune-based activist Tushar Damgude has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to name the Pune-Mumbai Missing Link project after revolutionary Umaji Naik.

The Missing Link project is a key project to solve the traffic congestion problems on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway (officially Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway) near Lonavala and reduce travel time between Mumbai and Pune -- the two biggest cities in Maharashtra.

In a media interaction, Damgude said the state government is driven by nationalist ideology, and Maharashtra has a legacy of producing nationalists.

Damgude described Umaji Naik as one of the early freedom fighters and said naming the project after him would help pass on his message to future generations.

Damgude has also written a letter to the chief minister making the same demand. In the letter, he said Maharashtra is the land of great personalities and highlighted Umaji Naik’s armed struggle against British rule.

He requested that the Missing Link project, a key infrastructure initiative between Pune and Mumbai, be named after the revolutionary to preserve his legacy.

Umaji Naik, who lived between 1791 and 1832, is known for leading a guerrilla resistance against the British East India Company after the fall of the Maratha Empire. He is regarded as one of the earliest revolutionaries from Maharashtra and is remembered for mobilising local communities against colonial rule.

Damgude said such a move would honour Naik’s contribution and keep his patriotic ideals alive in public memory.