Demand to rename Rajpath after Vajpayee

A traders' body identified with the BJP on Friday demanded to rename the iconic Rajpath connecting India Gate and the Rashtrapati Bhawan after former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“...we suggest that the Rajpath in Delhi should be renamed as 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee Path and a tall statue of Shri Vajpayee should be installed at Vijay Chowk near Parliament,” Praveen Khandelwal, National General Secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Khandelwal also suggested that the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Network should be renamed as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Rashtriya Rajmarg.

Khandelwal is a senior BJP leader and had unsuccessfully contested the Delhi Assembly elections from trading hub Chandni Chowk.

The pitch for the renaming of Rajpath, from where the Republic Day parade passes every year, comes at a time when the BJP is seeking to perpetuate Vajpayee's political legacy ahead of the election to five states and the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has already announced that the state's administrative capital Naya Raipur will be renamed as Atal Nagar and the Bilaspur University as Atal Bihari Vajpayee University.

Maharashtra is setting up study chairs in the name of Vajpayee at each of the 13 universities, while Himachal Pradesh is planning to name Rohtang tunnel after the departed leader.