Agra road renamed after VHP leader who played key role in Ram Janmabhoomi conspiracy
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Months after Mughal Road in Agra was renamed 'Maharaja Agrasen Road', the Ghatiya Azam Khan road in Agra has been renamed 'Shri Ashok Singhal Marg' after late Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal.
The proposal to rename the road had been tabled during a municipal board meeting in September. The decision to rename the road was taken to honour Singhal, born in a house on the Ghatiya Azam Khan Road in 1926, said Agra Mayor Naveen Jain.
An engineer by training, Singhal joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a full-time pracharak. In 1981, he became the general secretary of VHP and played a key role in the Ram Janmabhoomi conspiracy which involved the demolishing of Babri Masjid.
"Ashok Singhal had played a lead role in shaping the movement by uniting Hindus across India for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya," Jain said. The process of changing the names of places reminiscent of 'periods of slavery' would continue, he added.