The landmark 7 RCR, the official address of India’s Prime Minister, is history. The Race Course Road, where the Prime Minister’s official residence is located, was on Wednesday renamed Lok Kalyan Marg after a heated debate in the NDMC council meeting attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi among others.

Lekhi who represents New Delhi constituency in Parliament proposed to change the name to Lok Kalyan Marg instead of Ekatma Marg which she had proposed earlier. The British-era RaceCourse Road was named after the Delhi race course, part of the Delhi Race Club, which was established in 1940. This is the second road in the Lutyens’ zone of Delhi to be renamed in recent times.

In August last year, Aurangzeb Road in central Delhi was renamed Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road in honour of the late President. AAP had, however, opposed the move to rename Race Course Road as Ekatma Marg and had demanded that it be rechristened after a martyr. The BJP pitched for the new name as a middle path after Mr Kejriwal came up with his own suggestion - Guru Gobind Singh Marg. "Many Sikh delegations came to me, but the majority in the meeting were in favour of Lok Kalyan Marg, Mr Kejriwal said.