The Madhya Pradesh government seems to be on a renaming spree of sorts.
Weeks after renaming Habibganj railway station after Gond queen Kamlapati, the Madhya Pradesh government has now decided to rename Hoshangabad district as Narmadapuram. The Centre gave its nod to the proposal on Thursday.
The division which consists of Hoshangabad district was renamed as Narmadapuram long ago.
Moreover, a town in Hoshangabad, Babai, will now be known as Makhan Nagar, after noted poet and journalist Makhanlal Chaturvedi. Similarly, the Shivpuri gram panchayat is being renamed as Kundeshwar Dham by the state government.
Leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are coming up with more such demands.
Medical education minister Vishwas Sarang on Friday said that Bhopal city should be renamed as Bhojpal, after king Bhoj, a long-pending demand by BJP leaders. “I was the one who had started this demand to rename the MP state capital and I will write a letter reiterating the demand,” said Sarang.
The late chief minister Babulal Gaur had even installed a giant statue of the erstwhile king in the upper lake.
Rameshwar Sharma, a BJP MLA, demanded Obaidullaganj, a town in Raisen district, near Bhopal, be renamed as Ramganj. Shahjehanabad should also be renamed, demanded the ex-protem speaker of MP assembly. Shahjehanabad is an old locality in old city Bhopal. “It is a welcome step that Hoshang Shah who looted the country is being wiped out from the state.”
He also demanded renaming of towns namely Beghumganj, Gauharganj, Gairatganj, Burhanpur and so on. Names of Aurangzeb, Humayun, Akabr and others should be replaced with those of Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Rani Laxmibai, Guru Gobind Singh and others, demanded Sharma.
Meanwhile, Sarang attacked the Congress for calling it the “saffron agenda of the BJP”. “We are content with destroying the symbols of slaveries,” he said.
Ajay Singh Yadav, Congress spokesperson, said it was the state government’s attempt to divert attention from issues such as inflation and unemployment.
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