New Delhi, Mar 9 (PTI) From streets to parks, over 40 public sites were on Wednesday renamed by the civic authorities in north Delhi ahead of the municipal corporation polls in the national capital.

A string of proposals to rechristen several roads, parks, gardens and public squares after various personalities, including freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, architect of the Constitution B R Ambedkar, and Maharshi Valmiki, were approved by the BJP-led NDMC House at a meeting.

Also Read | Enforcement Directorate Attaches Properties Worth Rs 268 Crore in Akshaya Gold Ponzi Scam Case.

From Pitampura to Shalimar Bagh and Chandni Chowk to Civil Lines, scores of public sites have been renamed.

"A large number of roads, parks and other sites have been renamed after many personalities. The names have been chosen in an attempt to get local support from people ahead of the elections. Local heroes of different communities have been chosen strategically," a source said.

Also Read | COVID-19 in Maharashtra: State Notches Zero Coronavirus Deaths For Third Time in 7 Days.

The House session was held unusually early at 9 am at the Civic Centre on Wednesday, with sources saying the decision to hold it much earlier than the regular timing was taken in view of the announcement of the MCD election dates, which was scheduled to be made by the poll authorities in the evening.

The Delhi State Election Commission, however, deferred announcing the schedule for the municipal polls here after it received a communication from the Centre in this connection, prompting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to question whether the central government can "direct" any election commission to delay or cancel elections.

The personalities and leaders after whom streets, parks and 'chowks' have been named also include Sir Chotu Ram, Gujjar king Mihir Bhoj, and Sikh spiritual leader Guru Gobind Singh.

All three corporations in the city are currently ruled by the BJP, which has been controlling the civic bodies since the trifurcation of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2012.

Delhi has three civic bodies -- North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations -- and the last civic polls in the city were held in April 2017.

While the NDMC and the SDMC have 104 wards each, the EDMC has 64 wards.

In 2017, the BJP had bagged 181 of the 270 wards that went to polls in the three civic bodies and managed to increase its vote share by around five per cent.

While the AAP had finished the 2017 municipal poll race on the second spot, the Congress was a distant third.

Both the ruling BJP and the opposition AAP in all the three civic bodies have claimed that they would emerge victorious in the high-stakes 2022 civic polls.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)