Explained: The controversy over renaming Delhi's Mohammadpur village to Madhavpuram

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit on Wednesday said that they have renamed South Delhi’s ‘Muhammadpur’ village to ‘Madhavpuram’ on their own, as the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government had not cleared their proposal for the renaming.

Plaques declaring the village’s name as Madhavpuram were placed at the entrance of the village by local BJP councillor Bhagat Singh Tokas.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta attended the event along with some locals to ‘rename’ the area.

What is the name-changing controversy? The BJP’s Delhi unit president Adesh Gupta posed with workers and locals in front of a freshly painted board that welcomed visitors to ‘Madhavpuram’ on Wednesday.

He claimed that no Delhiite wants to be associated with any symbol of slavery.

“Completed the naming process of Madhavpuram today after a proposal was passed by the municipal corporation. Now this village will be known as Madhavpuram instead of Muhammadpur. No Delhiites want to be associated with any symbol of slavery despite 75 years of Independence,” Gupta said in a tweet.

According to PTI, Gupta said that the process to change the name was taken forward by the locals and the BJP workers after a proposal by the local BJP councillor in this regard was passed by the South Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The proposal to change the name of ‘Muhammadpur’ to ‘Madhavpuram’ was passed and sent to the Delhi government in December last year.

However, the government is “sitting on it for the last six months", Gupta alleged.

Last week, the Delhi BJP had also said the party will send a proposal to the Kejriwal government demanding that the names of 40 villages in the city be changed as they symbolise a period of “slavery”.

“These 40 villages include Humayunpur, Yusuf Sarai, Masoodpur, Zamroodpur, Begumpur, Saidul Ajab, Fatehpur Beri, Hauz Khas, and Sheikh Sarai to name a few,” he said.

Is it that easy to change the name of a place?

Any proposal to rename a village or town is sent to the ‘State Naming Authority’, which reviews it. If the proposal is found appropriate, the authority allows it following the due process.

The proposal to change the name of the village was approved by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) mayor Mukesh Suryan in August last year, and it was later cleared by the corporation.

According to senior SDMC officials in the executive as well as the deliberative wing, the civic body can only change names of parks, roads, schools, libraries and gardens among others but it doesn’t have the authority to change names of any historical place, village or town.

“Only the state government can initiate the change,” an official said.

“…Any proposal regarding changing the name of a village or town has to be passed by the civic body’s House and then it has to be approved by the State Naming Authority, which comes under the state government. After this, it has to get notified in the gazette,” SDMC standing committee chairman B.K. Oberoi told PTI.

Another SDMC official, who wished not to be named, said changing the name of the village by locals or by the civic body doesn’t have any bearing as it will not reflect on official documents or property papers.

“Unless the proposal is approved by the State Naming Authority and the changed name is notified in the gazette, it will have no bearing. Locals can put up any signage they want to, but the addresses, property papers and government documents will remain in the old name itself,” the official clarified. With inputs from agencies

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