Dalhousie Road is now Dara Shikoh Road - after Aurangzeb's brother

In yet another renaming of a street in Lutyens' Delhi area, the NDMC on Monday rechristened Dalhousie Road in the national Capital as Dara Shikoh Road after the elder brother of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) passed a proposal, put forward by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi who is also a Council member, to this effect at a special meeting convened by its chairman Naresh Kumar. "The Council has decided to rename the road to honour Dara Shikoh for bringing Hindus and Muslims together," the New Delhi Lok Sabha MP said.

"The proposal was first moved in 2014 for renaming Aurangzeb Road after Dara Shikoh. However, after former President APJ Abdul Kalam passed away, the road was renamed in his honour," a Council member added. Lekhi's proposal was supported by NDMC Vice-Chairman Karan Singh Tanwar but AAP MLA Surinder Singh questioned the timing of the recommendation in view of the Assembly polls in four states.

"The proposal was carefully moved with an aim of pleasing the Muslim electorate ahead of the UP Assembly polls," Singh alleged after the meeting. He said he had recommended that the road be renamed as Raja Surajmal Road as "he was the only ruler who was concerned about the wellbeing of people of all religions".

Lekhi had written to the council on February 3 that some residents approached her requesting that Dalhousie Road, named after Lord Dalhousie, who served as Governor General of India from 1848-56, should be renamed. "Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of fifth Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, had promoted peace and concord between the followers of Hinduism and Islam, and had interest in comparative religions, universal brotherhood, humanism and peace... He was a great patron of fine arts and music, and took his last breath in Delhi," Lekhi wrote in the letter addressed to the Chairman.

This is the third time that the NDMC has renamed a road in less than two years. In 2015, Aurangzeb Road was named as APJ Abdul Kalam Road.