Historic change! Race Course Road, where PM lives, renamed Lok Kalyan Marg

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Delhi: The name of Race Course Road has now been changed to Lok Kalyan Marg.

The decision to change the name of the road was taken at a high-level meeting of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) presided by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Prime Minister's residence is located on this road and the entire RCR is closed to the public.

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

Rajiv Gandhi was the first PM to reside at 7 Race Course Road in 1984. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose 5, Race Course Road as his residence. 7, Race Course Road was chosen as his office.

Earlier, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had given the proposal to rename RCR as Ekatma Marg, based on the philosophy of her party ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay.

The proposal was submitted to NDMC on September 9.

"The name, Race Course, is very alien and uninspiring. Also, the PM is the biggest follower of the philosophy of Deendayal Upadhyayji. This is the right tribute to him as he believed in ekatma (integral humanism)," she had said in her proposal.

On the other hand, AAP MLA from Delhi Cantonment Commando Surinder Singh, a member of NDMC, had wanted the road to be renamed after martyr Flight Lieutenant Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, a Paramvir Chakra awardee.

Lekhi too is a member of NDMC, the civic body in charge of central Delhi.

However, addressing a joint press conference on the renaming of the road on Wednesday, Kejriwal and Lekhi said that Lok Kalyan Marg name had been decided by consensus.

"There were some suggestions in NDMC meeting, but consensus was that Race Course Road be now called Lok Kalyan Marg," Kejriwal said.

"I had proposed renaming of the road after Guru Govind Singh while Lekhi said it should be renamed as Ekatma Marg. I suggested that the PM should be consulted on this but the Council members decided that on the basis of suggestions received from public, the road should be renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg," he added.

On the other hand, the BJP MP said, "There is nothing bigger than lok kalyan (public welfare)." 

The NDMC has also decided to rename the Gurudwara Rakabganj round-about adjacent to the Parliament complex as Guru Gobind Singh Chowk following representations from various Sikh organisations.

Reacting to the developments, Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu tweeted:

Compliments to NDMC, for deciding to change the name of Race Course Road into Loka Kalyan Marg. (1/2) — M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) September 21, 2016

It's a name with message as the PM's house is situated in that road. (2/2) — M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) September 21, 2016

Last year in August, Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens' Delhi had been renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road.

(With Agency inputs)