BJP MLA Neelam Pahalwan has proposed renaming Najafgarh to Nahargarh in the Delhi Assembly, adding that Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had changed its original name. Pahalwan, who defeated AAP candidate Tarun Kumar by over 29,000 votes, emphasized that restoring the original name was necessary.
#WATCH Delhi: Speaking in the Assembly, BJP MLA Neelam Pahalwan says, “…In the 1857 revolt, Raja Nahar Singh fought and included the Najafgarh region in Delhi’s territory. Despite several efforts, including through the them MP Parvesh Verma, we tried to change the name of… pic.twitter.com/W8vmjGPr0m
— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2025
Following his proposal, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from RK Puram, Anil Sharma, echoed similar sentiments and made efforts to rename a village in his constituency. He suggested renaming Mohammadpur to Madhavpuram and announced his plan to present this request in the Delhi Assembly.
Unfortunately, there are many cities in India which are named after mass murderers and looters imposed by invaders. There are also many anglicized name of the cities which are in use, which should be also corrected, as the continues ushes in Amrit Kaal free from the shackles of Mughal or British imperial and imprints of those conquests. It is pertinent to note that despite opposition from the cynical naysayers, correcting the civilisational wrong, truth and reconciliation has always been the way for a civilised to correct historical wrongs, get over with it and move on to the path of developments while keeping the civilisational ethos alive.
In line with the aforementioned civilisational demands, senior BJP leader Mohan Singh Bisht, after securing victory in Mustafabad, stated his intent to rename the constituency as either “Shiv Puri” or “Shiv Vihar.”
Bisht won by over 17,500 votes against AAP’s Adeel Ahmad. His victory further propelled the BJP’s push for renaming places across the city.
“I will change the name from Mustafabad to Shiv Puri or Shiv Vihar. I do not understand why political parties insist on keeping this name. Why can’t an area with a Hindu majority be renamed accordingly? People are troubled by the name ‘Mustafa,’ and I will ensure the change happens,” Bisht had said while speaking to ANI.
Mustafabad, a Muslim-majority constituency in North-East Delhi, was the prominent centre of violence during the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots that broke out in 2020. Bisht’s renaming proposal has sparked further debate about the BJP’s efforts to alter place names in Delhi.
In a major boost to his political career, the Delhi Assembly legislators elected the Six-time BJP MLA, Mohan Singh Bisht, as the deputy speaker of Delhi Assembly.