The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
PM’S new address: 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, ‘to match Indian ethos’
THE PRIME Minister of India has a new address: 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), on Wednesday, decided to rename Race Course Road (RCR) as Lok Kalyan Marg, stating that the former does not “match with the Indian ethos and value system”.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, which was attended by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, among others. The moves comes a little over a year after Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens’ Delhi was renamed after former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. The council meeting was called after Lekhi proposed that RCR be renamed. She had, however, suggested Ekatma Marg, based on the philosophy of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay.
In the 30-minute-long special meeting, a range of names for rechristening Race Course Road were suggested by its 13 members — from Ekatma Marg proposed by Lekhi to Guru Gobind Singh Marg proposed by Kejriwal and Paramvir Chakra recipient Flight Officer Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon suggested by AAP MLA Surinder Singh.
“Many suggestions were made but there was a discussion and eventually a consensus was reached on renaming it as Lok Kalyan Marg. The NDMC decided to not take suggestions. I believe that people’s opinion is important in a democracy,” Kejriwal said at a press conference in the evening.
Maintaining that a suggestion to name the road after Guru Gobind Singh was made during the meeting, Kejriwal further said, “Guru Gobind Singh ji, in one way, is not just the guru of Sikhs but he is a guru for everyone. I suggested that. This is not some random road and our country’s Prime Minister lives here and we all respect the PM. The PM does not belong to any one party, he is the PM to all of us. So, why don’t we take the PM’S opinion on what he wants. Does he want Guru Gobind Singh’s name or Race Course Road or Lok Kalyan Marg or something else? But it was the opinion of members that there is no need for take suggestions from anyone. I believe that in a democracy, people’s opinion is very important. And this (renaming of roads) concerns the Prime Minister.”
Responding to this, Lekhi said, “Arvind ji cannot change the name of the road where he lives even if he wishes on his own. Similarly, Prime Minister Ji’s wanting to or not wanting to is not considered in this. In a democratic system, only law and the authorised body can carry out such work. And NDMC has the right to do such work and the NDMC has taken this honourable decision. I am happy that the decision was taken after moving away from politics.”
According to NDMC members, the name Lok Kalyan Marg was made by Lekhi after she received suggestions from people regarding it. Lekhi said, “The Prime Minister’s residence is a place where people from different parties, religions and castes will reside as the PM. All of us have stepped into politics for Lok Kalyan (public welfare), be it Arvind ji or me or any other person, even India’s Prime Minister. There can be nothing greater than Lok Kalyan and hence it should be named so.”
Taking into consideration the “value system, public life, cultural and social values, the council has approved the proposal unanimously, so as to take the philosophy of public welfare in mind,” said a statement by NDMC.
“It was observed by the Council that the name of the road ‘Race Course Road’, on which the official residence of the Prime Minister of India is situated, does not match with the Indian ethos and value system. NDMC unanimously resolved to rename Race Course Road as Lok Kalyan Marg,” it said.
The road stretches from a roundabout where Teen Murti Marg, Rajaji Marg, Akbar Road and Safdarjung Road meet, and ends at Mustafa Kamal Ataturk Marg.
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