With the hitherto non-descript village Chhoti Losal rising to instant prominence by the virtue of being the in-laws’ place of President elect Pratibha Patil, the villagers want it to be renamed after her.

A group of villagers are all set to visit their Dadisa (grandma) at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday. “People are simply thrilled with the very thought of meeting the first woman president of the country with whom they can claim an affiliation,” sarpanch of Chhoti Losal Prem Kanwar told Deccan Herald over the phone.

The village celebrated her victory and wishes to rename the village as “Pratibha Patil ki Chhoti Losal” in her honour, she said.

A proposal will be put up at the next meeting of the gram sabha to rename the village, she said.

She spoke to Devi Singh Shekhawat, Pratibha Patil’s husband over the phone who invited her and others from his native place to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

A group of about 50 persons including her relatives, members of panchayat, school and other departments would be seeing her the next day after she is sworn in as the president.

Prem Kanwar was quite excited over her visit to New Delhi and said the whole village was quite excited over the visit to greet the new president. “She is our Dadisa and everyone in the village wants that the village be renamed after her. So a proposal will be moved to rename it,” she said.

Celebrations
Chhoti Losal had turned jubilant ever since Pratibha Patil was nominated for the country’s top position. The villagers celebrated in a big way when Pratibha Patil’s election was announced on July 19 with lots of festivities.
“We are excited and eagerly waiting to greet our Dadisa with flowers and best wishes from everyone from the village,” she said.

“It’s a great privilege for all of us,” Prem Kanwar said.