BJP MP Tejasvi Surya says move to name roads after Muslims reeks of two-nation theory mentality

Bengaluru: BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Thursday described the alleged move to name a few roads after Muslims in minority-dominated areas here as reeking of “communal mentality of two-nation theory”, and requested the Bengaluru municipal authorities to revise the list with non- Muslim public figures.

Following a report in a Kannada daily, the Bengaluru South MP shot off a letter to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad saying only Muslim names were chosen for christening the roads.

Claiming that the list of names mooted by BBMP has only Muslim names, Tejasvi Surya said, “Christening of roads in Muslim-dominated locality with only Muslim names reeks of the same communal mentality of the two-nation theory and Muslim League’s demand of separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims.This is dangerous and must be condemned.” The 29-year-old MP said there was no dearth of non-Muslim public figures and patriots on whom the roads can be named after.

He requested the commissioner to reconsider his decision.

“I request you to immediately revise the list and finalise the list of roads to be named after personalities only after wide public discussion,” Surya said in his letter to Prasad. BBMP officials were not immediately available for comment.

The row came as a stark reminder of the controversy surrounding the 100-ft wide road at Indiranagar in the city when the BBMP decided to name it after renowned folklorist Dr S K Karim Khan in 2014.

While the BJP insisted that the road be named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, though the municipal corporation had passed a resolution in 2006 to name it after Dr Khan, who had a vast collection of oral epics and ballads. Due to the intervention of a pro-Kannada organisation, the road was finally named after Khan.