After Habibganj, Hoshangabad; few more areas in Bhopal to be renamed

Bhopal: A year after the Madhya Pradesh government renamed Bhopal's Habibganj railway station as Rani Kamlapati, the process to rechristen other localities in the city has begun.

At least three localities, including a hill area - Lal Ghati where Bhopal's central jail is located, will be renamed.

Two other areas of the capital city which would go through the same process are Halalpur bus stand and Halal Pur colony. A proposal in this regard has been unanimously approved by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Notably, the development came after Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur put the proposal before BMC's standing committee during a meeting on Friday.

According to the proposal, Lal Ghati should be renamed after Narayan Das, a Hindu religious priest and ex-head of Gufa Mandir in Bhopal, whereas both Halalpur village and Halalpur bus stand to be addressed as Hanumangarhi. "Bhopal is a beautiful place, a city of lakes with green cleanliness. It is our duty to keep it safe," Thakur said after her proposal was approved by MBC.

Last year, the state government had renamed the redeveloped Habibganj railway station after Gond Queen 'Rani Kamlapati'. It was renamed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Bhopal to attend a mega event "Janjatiya Divas" in November 2021.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government has also changed the name of Hoshangabad district last year, which is now known as Narmadapuram.

Addressing a gathering on the bank of Narmada river in then Hoshangabad, Chouhan had said that since the district is located on the bank of river Narmada, therefore, Hoshangabad has been renamed as Narmadapuram.

The voices for changing the name of Bhopal are being raised on different occasions by the BJP and the right wing groups. They have been demanding that Bhopal be named Bhojpal, the founding ruler of Bhopal Raja Bhojpal.