The call for renaming places in Delhi picked up pace on Thursday after BJP MLA from Najafgarh, Neelam Pahalwan, suggested renaming her constituency from Najafgarh to Nahargarh. In the Delhi Assembly, she asserted that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had initially renamed Nahargarh as Najafgarh and demanded that its "true identity" be restored.
Pahalwan, who had won the Delhi elections by defeating AAP candidate Tarun Kumar by more than 29,000 votes, called upon the government to act quickly on the issue.
Additional name change proposals surface
After Pahalwan's proposal, BJP MLA from RK Puram Anil Sharma also advocated a name change in his constituency. He called for Mohammadpur to be renamed Madhavpuram and said he would officially table the proposal in the Delhi Assembly.
The trend was followed by senior BJP leader Mohan Singh Bisht, who won from Mustafabad, who has announced to rename the locality as "Shiv Puri" or "Shiv Vihar."
“I will change the name of Mustafabad to Shiv Puri or Shiv Vihar. I have said this before, and I don’t understand why political parties insist on keeping the name ‘Mustafabad.’ This area has a Hindu-majority population, and people are uncomfortable with the name ‘Mustafa.’ It should be changed, and I will make sure it happens,” Bisht told news agency ANI.
BJP's push for renaming gains traction
The demand to change names of localities throughout Delhi has picked pace after Bisht's win from Mustafabad, a predominantly Muslim constituency of North-East Delhi that had remained one of the worst-hit districts during the communal riots in 2020.
Four-term BJP MLA Karawal Nagar's Bisht was pitched by the BJP against Kapil Mishra in recent polls from Mustafabad, and he beat AAP candidate Adeel Ahmad comfortably by a victory margin of over 17,500 votes.
AAP MLAs stopped from entering Assembly
Also on Thursday, AAP MLAs picketed outside Delhi Assembly after the latter claimed the former were disallowed from entry to the assembly complex.
As many as 21 AAP MLAs were banned from attending a session for three days on Tuesday following their alleged disruptions of assembly proceedings regarding CAG report about liquor policy issued by AAP in office.
Delhi Leader of Opposition and Former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi had denounced the act, claiming barricades were being set up in order to hinder AAP legislators' entry into Assembly premises.
“AAP MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim.’ And today, they are not even being allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha premises. This has never happened in the history of the Delhi Assembly,” Atishi said.
With political tensions growing in Delhi, the BJP's initiative to rename locations and the AAP's agitation against Assembly entry are likely to further intensify the political rift in the capital.