Did an RSS outfit's choice pass off as people's wish?

CHANDIGARH: Among the various organisations the Haryana government says petitioned it for changing Gurgaon's name to Gurugram is Sanskar Bharti, a cultural outfit affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The Gurgaon-based outfit has been demanding a name change of the city since 1988.Deputy commissioner T L Satyaprakash said besides Sanskar Bharti, Shri Mata Sheetla Devi Shrine Board and municipal councillors of Gurgaon had been demanding that the Millennium City's name be changed to Gurugram.

While announcing the name change on April 12, a Haryana government spokesperson had indicated it was the outcome of popular demand, saying several forums had made representations in its favour. A day later, with several RWAs saying they had nothing to do with it, the picture on who actually drove the name-change exercise became clearer.

Sanskar Bharti, for instance, has been mentioning Gurgaon as Gurugram on its letterheads since 1988 when the organization became active in Haryana. "It has been our old demand," said Ajay Singhal, who was an associate of the Sanskar Bharti for 17 years and was appointed director of Haryana Kala Parishad around two months ago. "We had put the demand before the chief minister in October 2014.We are happy ," he added.

Singhal also gave Sanskar Bharti credit for the nomenclature of Guru Dronacharya Metro station. The MCG's political wing also played its role.A House resolution was passed in August 2014 demanding renaming of Gurgaon.

"Not only RSS-affiliated organizations but many gram panchayats, RWAs and social organizations have been demanding the same," claimed Jawahar Yadav, a close aide of the CM and chairman of the state housing board.

The heads of two promi nent RWAs TOI spoke to said neither had they approached the government, nor had the government sought their opinion. "There was absolutely no need to change the name.The government should have sought public opinion," said VS Rana of Sector 23. "One can understand if it was done following an uproar or agitation. But there was none," said Rajinder Tehlan of Sector 21.

Politically, though, BJP can hardly be accused of playing the name game all by itself. A proposal to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram was first made by the Congress government of Bhajan Lal in 1992. Bhajan Lal's son and Haryana Janhit Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi on Monday welcomed the BJP's government's move.

Haryana revenue Captain Abhimanyu, whose department is presiding over the name change, termed the move a "correction of the aberration." He also chose to link Gurgaon's past with mythology "It was a demand of the ge neral public. And the government consciously feels the time has come to position Gurgaon as a global city and connect it with its roots," Abhimanyu said.

Additional chief secretary (revenue) Dalip Singh said he had forwarded the proposal, sent by Satyaprakash last month, to the government after various organizations approached the district administration.