New Delhi
Delhi BJP legislators within the meeting session. (RAJ Ok RAJ /HT PHOTO)
Three Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) legislators on Thursday sought to rename three areas of Delhi—Najafgarh to Nahargarh, Mohammadpur to Madhavpuram, and Mustafabad to Shiv Vihar—with legislator Neelam Pahalwan invoking oppression suffered by the individuals of Najafgarh throughout the Mughal period.
Whereas Pahalwan raised the demand throughout the meeting session, deputy speaker Mohan Singh Bisht (Mustafabad) and Anil Sharma (RK Puram-Mohammadpur) raised the calls for in dialog with mediapersons.
“My assembly constituency is a rural constituency sharing border with Haryana. When Mughal emperor Shah Alam II took control of Najafgarh, people here suffered a lot. During the 1857 revolt, Raja Nahar Singh fought and brought the area into the Delhi province. We made several appeals…when Parvesh Verma was our MP, we tried a lot to change the name of Najafgarh to Nahargarh. I hope that the entire house, the chief minister and all of you will support me in this (renaming),” Pahalwan stated in the home.
Najafgarh was named after Mirza Najaf Khan, the commander-in-chief of the Mughal military beneath the Emperor Shah Alam II within the 18th century.
Mustafabad, in the meantime, was named after saint Hazrat Mustafa Baba, and Mohammadpur, after Mohammad Khan, a landlord throughout the Lodi period.
The strikes are consistent with the BJP’s ideological agenda of renaming locations with Muslim heritage. Over the previous decade, Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh was renamed Prayagraj, Faizabad district and division was renamed Ayodhya, amongst others.
To make certain, the Delhi Meeting doesn’t have the ability to alter the title of the constituency and the identical can solely be accomplished by the Election Fee of India throughout a delimitation train. Additional, Delhi Meeting speaker Vijender Gupta stated he didn’t obtain a proper proposal on the title change.
Pahalwan later informed mediapersons that “Raja Nagar Singh could only be truly honoured if the area was named after him”, including that the individuals of Najafgarh wish to change the title due to the historical past of oppression.
Delhi minister Parvesh Verma backed Pahalwan’s demand, saying the title change was lengthy overdue. Verma stated that Najafgarh falls beneath his former Lok Sabha constituency and that he has supported the thought up to now.
Mohan Singh Bisht, the deputy speaker, informed reporters that his constituency Mustafabad might be renamed Shiv Vihar. “It was a promise made during elections, and we are committed to fulfilling it,” stated Bisht.
An official of the Delhi Meeting, who didn’t wish to be named, nonetheless, stated that the Delhi Meeting didn’t have the authority to alter the title of an meeting constituency.
“The name of an assembly constituency can only be changed by the Election Commission of India during the delimitation exercise. The new name of the assembly cannot be a random name. Rather, the new name should be based on the name of any of the areas located within the assembly. It is usually done based on recommendations from the elected government or legislative assembly. The Delhi Assembly, however, can pass a motion demanding the change of the name of the assembly if the house decides to do so,” the official stated.
Anil Sharma, who proposed renaming Mohammadpur locality inside his south Delhi constituency of RK Puram, stated: “Long ago the MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi] passed a proposal to change the name of the [Mohammadpur] village but the previous [Aam Aadmi Party] government did not take up the matter. Now that the [BJP] government of the people has been formed, necessary action to change the name will be taken.”
A Delhi authorities official stated that State Names Authority, a multi-member committee beneath the Delhi authorities, is entrusted with the naming and renaming work of areas, streets and parks, but it surely can not change the title of an meeting or Lok Sabha constituency.