With eye on Punjab polls, AAP demands Race Course Road be named after Sri Guru Gobind Singh

Chandigarh: A day after Bharatiya Janata Party MP Meenakshi Lekhi proposed to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to rename Race Course Road as Ekatma Marg, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday said the road should be named after Sri Guru Gobind Singh.

With this, the AAP has put itself at loggerheads with the BJP once again.

Arvind Kejriwal-led party's move is seen as a ploy to attract votes ahead of the upcoming Assembly Elections in Punjab.

In a series of tweets, the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit said:

The name of Race Course Road is being changed by the Govt authorities to one in accordance with the Indian culture(1/n)

— AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab2017) September 21, 2016

@JarnailSinghAAP requested the PMO to change the name of Race Course Rd after Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (2/n) — AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab2017) September 21, 2016

Naming Race Course Road after Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji would be a fitting tribute as the Nation celebrates His 350th Prakash Purab (3/3) — AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab2017) September 21, 2016

On Tuesday, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi proposed to NDMC to rename Race Course Road, on which the Prime Minister's official residence is located, as Ekatma Marg based on the philosophy of her party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay.

 

She said that the existing name, Race Course Road, "does not match with Indian culture".

Top BJP leaders have often lamented that Upadhyay, whose death during a train journey in 1968 is shrouded in mystery, did not get the due recognition among the political stalwarts of modern India.

Race Course Road was named after the Delhi race course, part of Delhi Race Club, established in 1940.