New Delhi:TMC's Jawhar Sircar Sunday took a swipe at the BJP for renaming Rashtrapati Bhavan's Mughal Garden to Amrit Udyan. "Waiting for Mughlai Paratha to be renamed Swarga Lok or Indra Lok Paratha," the Rajya Sabha MP quipped on Twitter. The Central government on Saturday renamed the Mughal Gardens in New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan to 'Amrit Udyan'.
The opposition on Saturday attacked the Central government for this move, accusing the BJP of furthering its Hindutva agenda by renaming eminent places of history. "Who knows, they might now want to rename the Eden Gardens and call it Modi Gardens! They should focus on creating jobs, controlling inflation and protecting the precious resources of LIC and SBI," Trinamool Congress' Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien told news agency PTI.
CPI general secretary D Raja said this name change has been going on for quite some time and "no one knows when it will end". "The RSS' agenda is to rewrite Indian history and redefine nationhood. When we celebrate our Republic, it is for the people to stand up and safeguard our secular, democratic Indian Republic. India is not a theocracy, India is a democracy," he said.
Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi sarcastically said the move will "give relief" to people troubled by the falling Adani shares. "Adani's shares were falling and the credibility of the government too. Giving immediate relief to the troubled public, the government has changed the name of 'Mughal Garden' to 'Amrit Udyan'," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Keeping in line with the theme of 'Amrit Mahotsav' marking 75 years of India's Independence, the Central government changed the name of Mughal Gardens to Amrit Udyan, the statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan read. Navika Gupta, the deputy press secretary to President Droupadi Murmu, said, "On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the President of India has given a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as Amrit Udyan."
Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari lauded this move by saying that places named after Mughals should be identified and renamed. Speaking to news agency ANI, Adhikari said, "They (Mughals) killed so many Hindus and destroyed temples. All the places named after them should be identified and renamed. We will remove all British and Mughal names within a week if BJP comes to power in Bengal."
President Droupadi Murmu will grace the opening of the Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Udyan Utsav 2023 on Sunday. The gardens will be open to the public for the next two months.
