BJP MLAs seeks to rename three localities

New Delhi

Three Bharatiya Janata Party (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 people of Najafgarh during the Mughal era.

While Pahalwan raised the demand during the assembly session, deputy speaker Mohan Singh Bisht (Mustafabad) and Anil Sharma (RK Puram-Mohammadpur) raised the demands in conversation 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 said in the house.

Najafgarh was named after Mirza Najaf Khan, the commander-in-chief of the Mughal army under the Emperor Shah Alam II in the 18th century.

Mustafabad, meanwhile, was named after saint Hazrat Mustafa Baba, and Mohammadpur, after Mohammad Khan, a landlord during the Lodi era.

The moves are in line with the BJP’s ideological agenda of renaming places with Muslim heritage. Over the past decade, Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh was renamed Prayagraj, Faizabad district and division was renamed Ayodhya, among others.

To be sure, the Delhi Assembly does not have the power to change the name of the constituency and the same can only be done by the Election Commission of India during a delimitation exercise. Further, Delhi Assembly speaker Vijender Gupta said he did not receive a formal proposal on the name change.

Pahalwan later told mediapersons that “Raja Nagar Singh could only be truly honoured if the area was named after him”, adding that the people of Najafgarh want to change the name because of the history of oppression.

Delhi minister Parvesh Verma backed Pahalwan’s demand, saying the name change was long overdue. Verma said that Najafgarh falls under his former Lok Sabha constituency and that he has supported the idea in the past.

Mohan Singh Bisht, the deputy speaker, told reporters that his constituency Mustafabad will be renamed Shiv Vihar. “It was a promise made during elections, and we are committed to fulfilling it,” said Bisht.

An official of the Delhi Assembly, who did not want to be named, however, said that the Delhi Assembly did not have the authority to change the name of an assembly 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 said.

Anil Sharma, who proposed renaming Mohammadpur locality within his south Delhi constituency of RK Puram, said: “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 government official said that State Names Authority, a multi-member committee under the Delhi government, is entrusted with the naming and renaming work of areas, streets and parks, but it cannot change the name of an assembly or Lok Sabha constituency.