The Bhopal Municipal Corporation has passed a proposal to rename three institutions in the city named after Hamidullah Khan, the last nawab of Bhopal, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

The institutions sought to be renamed are the Hamidia Hospital, Hamidia College and Hamidia School.

Kishan Suryavanshi, the president of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, said that a resolution to this effect was passed in June, and a formal proposal was subsequently sent to the municipal commissioner, The Indian Express reported.

“We have formally sent the proposal to the commissioner, and the state government will also soon take a call on the name change,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “We have been demanding this for the past two years, and finally, the moment has arrived.”

Suryavanshi said that the institutions have been sought to be renamed as Hamidullah Khan did not want Bhopal to be a part of India after independence. “He had to reluctantly hand over Bhopal after a massive agitation from the local community,” he said. “Why should institutions be named after such a man?”

However, Leader of Opposition in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation Shabista Zaki told The Indian Express that she has filed a petition before the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the decision.

“There was no proposal in the agenda,” she said. “We have given a complaint to the Chief Secretary. There was no debate, and they just secretly passed this. There is no legality to it.”

Several landmarks in Bhopal have been renamed in the last few years. In 2021, the city’s Habibganj railway station was renamed after Kamlapati, a Gond princess who ruled the region in the 18th century.

In January this year, 11 villages in the Bhopal district were renamed by the state government.