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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Parvesh Verma on Monday said they will rename Delhi's Talkatora Stadium in the first meeting of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) after February 8, the day when the results of the assembly elections will be announced.
Speaking to reporters on the last day of campaigning, Mr Verma said the stadium will be renamed as "Bhagwan Maharshi Valmiki Stadium".
Mr Verma said the "country won't progress if we don't uplift" the communities classified as Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
He also said they had received multiple applications from the members of the Valmiki community to rename the stadium.
#WATCH | Delhi | BJP candidate from the New Delhi Assembly constituency, Parvesh Verma, says, "...In the first NDMC council meeting after February 8, we will rename the Talkatora stadium as Bhagwan Maharshi Valmiki stadium." pic.twitter.com/N7roaQHD5x
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2025
Saint Valmiki was the author of the Hindu epic Ramayana and revered as 'Adi Kavi' or the first poet of the Sanskrit language.
Talkatora Stadium, named after the Mughal-era Talkatora Gardens, is known for hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games boxing competitions. It has also held various other sports and cultural events.
Mr Verma also took a dig at the Congress and said they used to name airports and stadiums after their family members.
He also said the BJP would win the New Delhi seat by a large margin and that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal would lose his deposit and finish third.
Mr Verma is pitted against Mr Kejriwal and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, the son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, from the constituency.
"We will win by a margin of more than 20,000 votes. It could be 25,000-26,000. Arvind Kejriwal will lose his deposit here and will come third," he told reporters.
Delhi is scheduled to vote in a single-phase Assembly election on Wednesday. The votes will be counted on February 8.
While Mr Kejriwal-led AAP is eyeing a third straight term, the BJP has intensified its bid to reclaim power in the national capital after more than 25 years.
The Congress, which ruled the capital for 15 years until 2013, is striving to regain its lost ground after drawing a blank in the last two elections.