No renaming of Ramlila ground, say BJP, NDMC

Delhi BJP leaders and New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Saturday denied reports that the iconic Ramlila Maidan in the heart of the capital would be renamed Atal Maidan.

In an interview to CNN News18, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said reports about Ramlila Maidan being renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are "completely baseless".

"I have no idea where the news emerged from, but we can never change the name of the Ramlila Maidan. All such reports are completely baseless," he said.

On the other hand, NDMC ward commissioner Jayprakash, speaking to CNN News18, also denied reports about renaming Ramlila grounds by saying that "NDMC never held a meeting or presented a proposal to rename the Ramlila ground."

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said that "changing the name of Ramlila Maidan won't fetch them votes but changing the name of the Prime Minister might".

In a reply to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo's allegations, Leader of Opposition Delhi Vijender Gupta said AAP is getting over excited over an issue that never even existed.

"There was never a proposal to rename the Maidan. No meeting was held, and no one even suggested it, so why is the Aam Aadmi Party overly excited," Gupta, an MLA from Rohini constituency, said.

--IANS

sd/prs