New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta on Tuesday demanded New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to change the names of half a dozen streets bearing monikers of Mughal emperors and rechristen them after Maharshi Valmiki, Guru Gobind Singh, General Bipin Rawat, and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
The demand by Gupta comes days after a proposal was sent by the Delhi BJP to the Kejriwal government urging it to rename 40 villages, including Humayunpur, Yusuf Sarai, Begumpur, Saidul Ajab, Hauz Khas, among others, after freedom fighters, martyrs, Delhi riot victims, famous artistes, and sportsperson of the country.
Criticising the BJP's demand, Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to name the new Parliament building after Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and said it will sent out a positive message about the country's communal harmony.
In his letter to the NDMC chairman, the Delhi BJP president said despite several years of Independence, names of some roads in Delhi symbolised "slavery".
Gupta demanded Tughlaq Road to be renamed after Guru Gobind Singh and Babar Lane after revolutionary Khudiram Bose.
He further suggested that Aurangzeb Lane should be rechristened as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Lane, Humayun Road as Maharshi Valmiki Road and Shahjahan Road as General Bipin Rawat Road.
"It is our demand that Tughlaq that symbolises slavery be changed to Guru Gobind Singh Marg for paying tribute to the great figure," Gupta said.
He also demanded renaming Akbar Road after Maharana Pratap who fought the Mughals and was considered "pride of Hindus" on the Rajput icon's 482nd birth anniversary.
The Delhi Congress has criticised the saffron party's demand and said that the BJP was trying to create social unrest with its move to rename 40 historic places and roads in the national capital, after failing to cash in on the bulldozer politics .
Kumar in a statement said that if the BJP wanted to improve Delhi, then it should build new community centres, improve MCD schools, provide better civic facilities in rural and urban villages, improve sanitation facilities, and get rid of the mountainous landfills posing grave threats to the health of the people.
"Anil Kumar appealed to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to rename the new Parliament building after the late President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He said that he has also appealed to the Prime Minister to name all the gates of the new Parliament building in the name of Rishi-Munis' and Mahapurush' of the country," the statement said.
BJP's destructive politics will only spell its doom in the coming MCD elections, Kumar said in the statement.
