Bhopal:
Madhya Pradesh’s medical education minister Vishwas Sarang welcomed the decision to rename Hoshngabad district to Narmadapuram and demanded on Friday that the state capital of Bhopal be renamed Bhojpal in honor of Raja Bhoj, an 11th-century ruler. century.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the central government has given its approval to rename Hoshangabad district in the state as Narmadapuram.
Mr Sarang expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chouhan for renaming Hoshangabad to Narmadapuram and the town of Babai in the same district as Makhan Nagar (after noted Hindi poet and journalist Makhanlal Chaturvedi).
“I have long been demanding to change Bhopal’s name to Bhojpal. I have also raised this demand in the state assembly and now I will write a letter to the prime minister on the matter,” Sarang said in a statement.
Sarang said the idea behind changing the names of some towns and villages is to disconnect them from their colonial past.
The Narmada River is the lifeblood of the state and it is a welcome step to change the name of Hoshangabad, located on its banks, to Narmadapuram, the BJP leader said.
“While Congress is calling this (name change exercise) a saffron agenda, we don’t mind. It is a matter of luck that Babai will be known as Makhan Nagar as it is an expression of gratitude to patriots,” he said.
In the statement, Sarang also announced to rename the town of Shivpuri in Tikamgarh district as Kundeshwar Dham in honor of Baba Kundeshwar, a revered religious figure in the state, as requested by local residents.
Demands to change the names of several cities and towns gained momentum after the Center approved last year the state government’s request to rename Habibganj railway station in Bhopal to Rani Kamalapati station, after the famous Gond queen. The prime minister had inaugurated the renamed train station, redeveloped with airport-like amenities, in November 2021.
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