Jabalpur Railway Station to be Renamed After Rani Durgavati? BJP MP Demands to Change 155-Year-Old Name

JABALPUR: Local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Rakesh Singh on Monday sought renaming of the greater than 150-year-old Jabalpur railway station after Rani Durgavati, a revered tribal queen of the erstwhile Gondwana kingdom. Singh, whose transfer is being seen as an try to woo tribals forward of the year-end Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, stated he has held talks with senior Railway officers over the renaming problem and can research all the process earlier than submitting a proper proposal to authorities. 

In 2021, the Habibganj railway station in state capital Bhopal was renamed after Rani Kamlapati. A a lot revered determine for the tribal Gond group, Rani Kamlapati was the final Hindu queen of the Bhopal area. The Jabalpur income division, having eight districts, has a number of tribal-reserved seats, the place the Congress had put up a great present within the 2018 Assembly polls. 

“I had a talk with top officials of the West Central Railway over renaming Jabalpur station after Rani Durgavati,” Singh stated. The Member of Parliament, who can be the BJP chief whip within the Lok Sabha, was speaking to reporters after holding talks with the WCR General Manager and Jabalpur Railway Divisional Manager. 

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“Rani Durgavati was our ancestor. We should feel proud and privileged to be a part of the place where Rani Durgavati lived. Her governance and water management and heroism had been unique. Keeping in mind sentiments of the people of Jabalpur, Jabalpur station should be renamed after her,” he stated.

But this (renaming) is an extended drawn train as a proposal from the state authorities goes to totally different ministries earlier than a call is taken and accredited by the Centre, stated the parliamentarian from Jabalpur. When contacted, Singh advised PTI, “I am going to study the procedure involved in renaming railway stations before taking a call on sending a proposal to the state government.” 

The BJP chief additionally stated one other proposal goes to be finalized to rework and redesign the Railway station with Rs 300 crore funding. Rani Durgavati attained martyrdom on June 24, 1564, whereas preventing the Mughals close to Narai Nala in Jabalpur district. The Jabalpur (then often called Jubbulpore) station was opened for rail visitors in 1867 connecting Bombay (now Mumbai) and Calcutta (now Kolkata). At that point, it was the interchange station between the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and East Indian Railway. 

The ruling BJP is making determined makes an attempt to win again tribals who wield appreciable affect in a number of Assembly seats. In 2018, the saffron get together had misplaced the MP Assembly elections to the Congress by a slender margin. The Congress had then-won 31 tribal-reserved seats, whereas the BJP had to content material with simply 16 such constituencies. 

After shedding the polls beneath the management of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the BJP sat within the Opposition for 15 months earlier than returning to energy after a insurrection by now Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in opposition to the Congress management. The saffron get together stormed to energy in MP by unseating the Congress within the 2003 Assembly polls and its efficiency was boosted by a stellar present in adivasi-reserved seats the place it gained 37 out of the 41 constituencies earmarked for candidates from Scheduled Tribes then. The BJP bagged 31 out of the 47 ST-reserved seats in 2008 and retained energy. The variety of tribal-reserved seats within the state went up to 41 from 47 due to delimitation train. 

In 2013, the saffron get together repeated its 2008 efficiency within the ST-reserved Assembly seats. According to the Schedule Tribe Population Census of 2011, the inhabitants of indigenous folks was greater than 1.53 crore and accounted for 21.08 per cent of the whole 7.26 crore inhabitants of Madhya Pradesh. 

Around 1.75 crore tribals, accounting for 22 per cent of the inhabitants in MP now, maintain the important thing to energy with 47 of the whole 230 Assembly seats reserved for them. More than 50,000 tribal voters are current in 35 different Assembly seats within the state, political observers stated.