BJP wants Jinnah Nagar to be renamed after Chettur Sankaran Nair
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that the Jinnah Nagar, a street in Palakkad town, be renamed after Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Malayali to be the national president of the Indian National Congress. BJP councillor M. Sasikumar from Ayyapuram East ward has raised the demand in the municipality, citing objections to the street…
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that the Jinnah Nagar, a street in Palakkad town, be renamed after Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Malayali to be the national president of the Indian National Congress.
BJP councillor M. Sasikumar from Ayyapuram East ward has raised the demand in the municipality, citing objections to the street bearing the name of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The ruling BJP has raised the demand against Jinnah Nagar as a countermove to the protest by the Opposition Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] against the municipality’s move to name an upcoming skill development centre after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder K.B. Hedgewar.
The BJP has put the Congress in a tricky spot by demanding the renaming of Jinnah Nagar after the former Congress national president who had been the only Indian member in the British Viceroy’s Executive Council.
Jinnah Nagar used to be a busy commercial street decades ago. BJP sources said that it was through a municipal resolution that the street was named after Muhammadali Jinnah in 1977.
Published – April 30, 2025 08:29 pm IST
