Political row over re-naming Mumbai's Malabar Hill

Mumbai: From Bombay to Mumbai, from Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, from Princess Street to Shyamaldas Gandhi Marg, there have been several changes that have taken place on paper but not in the minds of the citizens of India's financial capital. And now it is the turn of Malabar Hill.

Home to Maharashtra's top politicians, bureaucrats, industrialists and the creme de la creme of Mumbai, Malabar Hill is now in the focus after an MNS corporator mooted the proposal to change its name from Malabar hill to Ramnagari because of mythological references.

The proposal came from Dilip Lande. This is just a few months after his party chief Raj Thackeray distanced himself from the practice of renaming roads and places in the city.

So far, the Shiv Sena, the arch-rival of Mr Lande's party, has not yet made its position clear on the issue.

Congress Corporator Praveen Cheda opposed the proposal saying, "It is a political gimmick from MNS. The Mahanagar Palika Act very clearly states that we cannot change Indian names. Malabar Hill is originally is named after the fishermen community who belonged to Mumbai."

The BJP too echoed the Congress line. Its leader in the BMC, Dilip Patel said, "We will not go against lord Ram's name but Malabar is an Indian name and as per Mahanagar palika act, Indian names cannot be changed."

Malabar Hill residents too are not impressed. Ganesh Parekh, a resident, said, "Instead of changing the name, they should concentrate more on the infrastructure of the city. It's not going to make much of the difference but I would prefer Malabar hill than Ramnagari."

Dr. Param Sanghvi who has been living in the area for years told NDTV, "What's in a name? It's been known as Malabar hill for long time and, people are used to it. I don't think there is any need to change the name."