Mysuru: Even as Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff clarified to a Congress delegation yesterday that no official record or Gazette notification identifying ‘Princess Road’ (KRS Road, now proposed to be renamed as Siddaramaiah Aarogya Marga,) former city Mayor Sandesh Swamy produced a map as evidence to assert that the road was indeed named ‘Princess Road.’

Presenting this proof, Sandesh Swamy urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to intervene and put an end to the contentious issue of renaming the road after him.

At a press conference yesterday, Swamy displayed the map, stating that road had been officially named ‘Princess Road’ in 1921 by the then City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), which later became the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Sandesh Swamy remarked that the ongoing controversy surrounding the renaming of KRS Road as ‘Siddaramaiah Aarogya Marga’ might have caused unnecessary embarrassment to the Chief Minister, who hails from the Mysuru district.

He said that the MCC had decided to honour Siddaramaiah with a civic honour when he became Chief Minister for the first time in 2013, but Siddaramaiah had humbly declined the gesture. Now, as Siddaramaiah serves as Chief Minister for the second time, he should intervene to resolve the ongoing controversy over naming KRS Road after him.

Do not bypass norms

Pointing out that no one should attempt to tarnish Siddaramaiah’s reputation, he emphasised that it is a tradition to name prominent roads, parks, and circles after achievers from various fields and distinguished personalities.

However, he stressed that such processes must adhere to established norms, with the MCC Council passing a resolution for naming roads and forwarding it to the Government for approval. Officials must strictly follow these procedures and not bypass norms when naming KRS Road after Siddaramaiah, he noted.

Citing an example, the former Mayor mentioned that the MCC had passed a resolution to rename Curzon Park, adjacent to the Mysore Palace after thespian Dr. Rajkumar and the Government subsequently approved the proposal.

“During my tenure as Mayor, a large park in J.P. Nagar was named after Siddaramaiah following public demand. As per guidelines, there is no provision to name another road, park, or junction after the same individual once their name has already been commemorated in this way,” he pointed out.

He further stated that in 2010-11 and 2011-12, the MCC had passed resolutions to name over a hundred roads and parks after distinguished personalities. For instance, the Outer Ring Road (ORR) was designated as S.M. Krishna Road.

However, this proposal was never officially implemented due to the negligence and apathy of officials. Expressing disappointment, he added that officials and the current generation seem to lack an understanding of the historical significance behind naming roads and landmarks.