The New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) plan to rename Teen Murti Marg and Teen Murti chowk after the Israeli city of Haifa before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country, has failed to materialise with the PM landing in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Around three months ago, the NDMC had proposed adding Haifa to the name of Teen Murti Marg and Teen Murti chowk in honour of the Israeli city where soldiers of three Indian princely States had fought and died in 1918.
In fact, Teen Murti gets its name from three statues representing the States: Jodhpur, Mysore and Hyderabad.
In April, NDMC sources said the proposal to change the names to Teen Murti Haifa Marg and Teen Murti Haifa chowk would be passed in time for Mr. Modi’s visit, a first by any Indian PM.
As part of his trip, Mr. Modi will be visiting the Indian cemetery in Haifa to pay his respects to the soldiers.
Last-minute disagreement
However, as on Tuesday the NDMC’s proposal to rename the road had not been passed.
The proposal was presented at a meeting of the Council on April 27, but last-minute disagreement between council members had led to a deferment, according to members and officials present.
The meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was attended by council members New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar and vice-chairperson Karan Singh Tanwar.
Interestingly, Mr. Tanwar issued a press release saying that the proposal had been passed. The NDMC later said in a statement that the proposal had been deferred that day. On Tuesday, Mr. Tanwar said: “Once it was passed, it was decided to defer the proposal.”
Ms. Lekhi and Mr. Kumar did not respond to requests for comment. However, sources who had attended the council meeting said that there had been some disagreements as to who got credit for the proposal.
