New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) BJP legislator Neelam Pehalwan on Thursday raised a demand in the Delhi Assembly to rename west Delhi’s Najafgarh as Nahargarh, a move that saw two other party MLAs demanding the renaming of north east Delhi’s Mustafabad colony as Shiv Vihar and south Delhi’s Mohammadpur village as Madhavpuram.
Dismissing the Opposition AAP legislators’ allegations that the name-change only amounted to mere optics, Najafgarh legislator Neelam Pehalwan said, “The AAP is a damaged drum which only wants to create noise. They have not done anything themselves in 10 years and want to create hurdles for us. I am proposing the renaming on popular public demand in my constituency.”
She said Raja Naharsingh had taken part in the revolt of 1857, and after that,t the then rulers massacred Hindus and changed the name of the area to Najafgarh. “People of Najafgarh played a big role in the revolt,” she said, adding that a name change will be a tribute to martyrs.
Pehalwan said the demand for renaming Najafgarh was earlier raised by Parvesh Verma, the then MP, but the political situation was not conducive. “Now, I hope this proposal will go through smoothly,” she said.
BJP legislator Kailash Gahlot, who was earlier an MLA from Najafgarh in the AAP government, welcomed Neelam Pehalwan’s proposal for a name change.
“This will honour the sacrifices made by residents of Najafgarh during the revolt,” said the Jat leader, calling it a popular demand of area residents.
Earlier, MLA Mohan Singh Bisht sought a change in the name of Mustafabad to Shiv Vihar and Anil Sharma, a legislator from R.K. Puram, sought the renaming of Mohammadpur village, near Bhikaji Cama Place on Ring Road, to Madhavpuram.
Sharma dismissed AAP allegations that the BJP was not getting down to development but focusing only on name changes.
“We are committed to development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also see the progress and benefits emerging from the renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj and conduct of Maha Kumb there,” he said.
–IANS
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