Now, plea to rename Agra's Shahjahan Garden after Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar

Agra: UP cabinet minister and MLA from Agra Dehat legislative constituency, Baby Rani Maurya, has written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath asking for Shahjahan Garden, a Mughal-era green space located between the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, to be renamed after 18th-century Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar.

Following her request on March 3, additional chief secretary in the CM's office, SP Goyal, forwarded the matter to UP chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh in a letter dated March 21.

Baby Rani said on Saturday, "Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar was a powerful queen of the Maratha empire. She undertook numerous initiatives for social welfare, promoted education, secured property rights for widows and restored several temples, including the Kashi Vishwanath and Mahakaleshwar temples. Several people's representatives in Agra have demanded that Shahjahan Garden be renamed as Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Garden."

Reacting to the development, senior Congress functionary and former city president Ram Tandon said, "This is just a tactic by BJP to divert attention from real issues. If they truly wish to rename the park, it should be after Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and an ardent freedom fighter whose statue stands inside the park."

Originally named after Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the garden once housed a bronze statue of Queen Victoria, unveiled by the Prince of Wales in 1905. After Independence, the statue was moved to a museum and the garden was renamed Shahjahan Garden. The statue was later shifted to the police lines and now lies abandoned on the grounds of John's Public Library.

Notably, during a recent visit to Agra, Yogi said that the city's "identity was rooted in Vrindavan Bihari Lal and Radha Rani", and that "if Agra were to be associated with a historical figure, it should be Chhatrapati Shivaji rather than the Mughals".