Ajmer: Two days after a prominent govt-run hotel in Ajmer was officially renamed—from ‘Hotel Khadim' to ‘Hotel Ajaymeru'—mixed reactions continue being heard across the city on the matter amid political statements for and against the renaming. The website of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC), which runs the hotel, is yet to reflect the name change. It features ‘Hotel Khadim' on the page where booking information and details about facilities are listed.
Soon after the tourism department's decision to rename the hotel was announced by the district administration on Monday, BJP activists and members of right-wing organisations such as Bajrang Mandal celebrated the occasion with fireworks and distribution of sweets. Signboards on the hotel's façade and hoardings nearby bearing its popular name were changed a day later. Even as BJP and Bajrang Mandal expressed their delight and insisted the new name will bring back the glory of Ajmer city, the organisation of khadims of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti's famous dargah in the city condemned the renaming and expressed concerns.
Former RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore described the name change as a "gimmick of the BJP govt". tnn