BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a private motion seeking renaming of Hoshangabad district as Narmadapuram.
Moving the motion, Hoshangabad MLA Sitasharan Sharma said people were demanding for the last 50 years that the district on the banks of the Narmada be called Narmadapuram.
Sharma said Hushang Shah Gauri, after whom the area is named, came there in the 14th century, adding that his mausoleum was not in Hoshangabad but in Mandu in Dhar district.
He also said the place was known as Narmadapuram in the 7th century till 1199.
BJP MLA Vijaypal Singh said Hushang Shah was a looter and the district should be renamed, while the motion moved by Sharma was endorsed by party colleagues Thakur Das Nagvanshi and Premshanker Kunjilal Verma.
Senior Congress MLA PC Sharma supported the motion and said efforts should be made to popularise Narmadapuram or else the renaming won't serve any purpose.
After Congress supported the motion when it was put forth by Speaker Girish Gautam for members' consent, the latter announced it had been passed unanimously.