Bhopal or Bhojpal?

BHOPAL: A great function held at Lal parade ground of Bhopal on the Monday night to mark the millennium celebrations of the legendary Raja Bhoj’s coronation, during which state government announced the final decision of proposing renaming of Bhopal (the state capital) as Bhojpal.

Despite of much opposition by opposition parties, State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here last night, “A proposal to change the name of Bhopal to Bhojpal will be sent to the Centre soon.”

Not only this, the BJP-led state government has also decided to rename Bhopal’s famous Upper Lake constructed by Raja Bhoj as ‘Bhojtaal’ and the VIP road as ‘Raja Bhoj Marg’.

Chouhan asked at the function attended by BJP’s President Nitin Gadkari, “If Bombay can be rechristened as Mumbai, Madras as Chennai, Calcutta as Kolkata and Bangalore as Bengaluru, then why can Bhopal not be renamed as Bhojpal?”

Opposition parties had said they were against the move of renaming the city. “We will take to the streets if the name of Bhopal is changed to Bhojpal. Bhopal has stood as a witness to Hindu-Muslim unity for the last 300 years,” last week the state Congress spokesperson Arif Masood had told reporters.

Bhopal secretary of CPI Shaliendra Kumar Shaily said in a statement, that the state government’s move to change the name of Bhopal to Bhojpal was against democratic and secular values.

He also warned, “We will organize a state-wide agitation against the government if it changes the name of the state capital.”

Taking inspiration from Raja Bhoj’s water management skills, the government will spend Rs 25,000 crore on conserving water resources in the state, said CM.

Also a huge statue of Raja Bhoj installed on a pillar on one corner of the Upper Lake also unveiled on Tuesday.