Renaming Ramlila Maidan won't fetch BJP votes: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Aug 25: In a scathing attack on Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that a move to rename Ramlila Maidan after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee won't fetch the BJP votes but "changing the name of the Prime Minister might".

Citing a news report on the proposed renaming, Kejriwal tweeted, "Changing name of Ramlila Maidan etc after Vajpayeeji will not fetch votes. BJP should change the name of the Prime Minister to get some votes because people are not voting on his name."

Earlier in the day, reports surfaced that the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had proposed that the name of the Ramlila Maidan in the capital be renamed as a tribute to Vajpayee.

However, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwary later denied reports of a name change for the Ram Leela Maidan. "The ground is named after Maryada Pursottam Ram, there is no question changing its name," Tiwary said.

The NDMC has also denied that there was any proposal to rename Ramlila Maidan. Brushing off the news report, NDMC Mayor Adesh Gupta said that there was no such proposal.

"There is no proposal to rename Ramlila Maidan after Vajpayeeji. All reports suggesting so are wrong," he said.

The mayor denied that some NDMC councillors approached the civic body or his office with a suggestion to rename the ground after Vajpayee. "No councillor has even made any such suggestion," Gupta said.

"We worship Lord Ram, so there's no question of a change in the name of Ramlila Maidan.... If someone says something like that should be done, not necessary that you need to follow it," Tiwary added.