Demands for renaming certain areas justified, says MP minister

Indore, December 14

Amid demands by some leaders of the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh to change names of certain places, state Culture Minister Usha Thakur on Monday said such demands are absolutely valid if they are backed by “facts and evidences”.

Some leaders of the BJP from Bhopal and Indore have demanded that the existing names of some areas be changed.

“This is a period of renaissance. If the names of some places in the state are changed on the basis of facts and evidence, and in accordance with the Constitution, then these changes must surely take place. Nobody should have any objection,” the minister told reporters here.

She further said, “The ‘Azad Bharat’ (Independent India) should look like Azad Bharat”.

MP Assembly Speaker and senior BJP leader Rameshwar Sharma recently demanded that the name of Idgah Hills in Bhopal be changed to “Guru Nanak Tekri”.

Indore Lok Sabha MP Shankar Lalwani had said that local people wanted the area adjacent to the famous Ganesh temple in Khajrana locality be renamed, either as Ganesh Nagar, Ganesh Dham or Ganesh Colony.

“Now we have to decide together whether we trust the history of 1,400 years or the history of 14,000 years?” Thakur said.

“There is no fabrication....if demand for changes of names of places is coming from Bhopal and other cities… These demands have been made on the basis of facts and evidence,” the minister said.

Thakur further said the people who believe in democracy have been asking the state government to gather facts to ascertain validity of their demands for renaming the places.

“...A certain class of society, however, doesn’t worry about this (renaming a locality). They just plant a board mentioning the change of the name of their area,” she said.

Queried about the ongoing stir of farmers on the borders of Delhi for a repeal of three farm laws, Thakur said, “I think those high-ranking middlemen who were earning huge money before these laws (were enacted), are stoking farmers agitation as part of a conspiracy. But conspiracies based on lies cannot last long”.

She said “tukde-tukde gang and Leftists try to take undue advantage of such situations everywhere. This gang has also joined this movement (of farmers)”. — PTI

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