The famous Habibganj railway station in Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal was renamed Rani Kamlapati Railway Station, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Saturday, 12 November.
"Rani Kamlapati was forgotten. Neither the Britishers nor Congress gave her an appropriate position in history," CM Chouhan said, according to news agency ANI.
The station, named after the Gond Queen Rani Kamlapati whose kingdom was seized by an Afghan commander Dost Mohammed, was inaugurated on Monday, 15 November, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the state government proposed the new title to the central government last week, the BJP administration gave an expeditious go-ahead to the proposal, The Indian Express reported.
On Saturday, the CM thanked Modi for this 'historic decision' on his Twitter account.
The Renaming, Revamping of Habibganj
The renaming of the station also comes at a time when a hundred crore rupees have been pooled by private players for its redevelopment.
According to Modi's official website, this is India's first large-scale Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in station redevelopment, with a green building design and world class amenities.
Even though railways in a Union subject, the retitling of a railway station is within the jurisdiction of the state. The state governments can propose the renaming to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which consequently tenders its approval or disapproval in the matter.
Usually, it is ensured that no other station with the new name proposed exists anywhere in India, the Indian Express reported.
Who Was Rani Kamlapati?
Married and later widowed to the 18th century Gond dynasty ruler Nizam Shah, Kamlapati was known to have braved rivals after the Shah was killed.
Nizam Shah ruled the kingdom of Ginnorgarh, which is 55 km from Bhopal and built Bhopal's famous Kamlapati Palace in her name.
Gond is among the most widespread tribal communities of India, scattered across the states Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, and Odisha.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that the queen was the “last Hindu queen of Bhopal”, who made significant contributions in the area of water management, and established parks and temples in the area.
(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express.)
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