The issue of renaming of Ashraya Colony, which had been reportedly named as Mahatma Gandhi Colony, as Atal Nagar led to a protest and a heated exchange of words between Congress members, localites and BJP leaders in Hubballi on Friday.
The incident happened during the bhoomi puja for the construction of B model houses under the Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojna at Amaragol in Hubballi, where the renaming of the area was also scheduled to take place.
Staging the protest, local residents and Congress members led by Nagaraj Gouri condemned the renaming of the colony and said that by indulging in such an act, the BJP leaders were disgracing both Mahatma Gandhi and the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Hubballi Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad and the former HDMC councillor Mallikarjun Horakeri tried to reason with them, saying that they were not renaming but naming the new Ashrya Layout. However, Mr. Nagaraj Gouri and the protestors were not satisfied. They said that flex boards had already been erected around the area indicating renaming.
After the protestors stuck to their stand, the former councillor assured them that they would erect a board in the name of Mahatma Gandhi in the locality and invite them for the ceremony. The protestors were then pacified.
Meanwhile, KPCC Media Analyst Pandurang Neeralakeri condemned the development and said that in 1992, KIADB had developed the layout in an area of 29 acres and allotted 825 Ashraya houses. Subsequently, the area was known as Mahatma Gandhi Colony.
In a statement, he said that it was highly condemnable that Mr. Arvind Bellad and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi were behind the act of renaming the locality. Mr. Neeralakeri also said that no decision had been taken by the municipal corporation on renaming the locality. Both the leaders should apologise for bringing disgrace to the late leaders, he has said.
Bhoomi puja
After these developments, Mr. Pralhad Joshi performed bhoomi puja for the construction of 137 houses that are being built at a total cost of ₹ 7 crore. A sum of ₹ 5.10 lakh is being spent for each house of which the contribution from the beneficiaries is ₹ 2 lakh.
