Official: Renaming Haryana village after Trump a 'fraud event'

Gurugram, June 27 (SURYAA) Banners with the photograph of Donald Trump have been brought down in a Haryana village days after it was "renamed" after the US President, with a senior official declaring the renaming as a "fraud event" and illegal.

Marora village, some 46 km from here, was on Friday dedicated to Trump, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US trip. 

The renaming was carried out by NGO Sulabh, which said the village will be known as "Trump Sulabh Village".

Authorities removed the signage boards and banners with Trump photographs installed in Marora village.

On June 23, NGO Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak had also launched various projects for all-round development of Marora panchayat in Haryana's Mewat region.

"It was all fictitious and a fraud event by the organisers aimed at collecting money across the country and abroad," M.R. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Mewat, told IANS.

"Organisers neither took any permission from local authorities, or the Haryana and union government, nor have they applied for changing the name of the village. It was all illegal," Sharma said.

"Village Marora has been already declared open defection free (ODF) by the state government. We have ordered for removal of all signage boards and banners claiming 'Trump Sulabh Village' and are taking appropriate action," Sharma added.

Monika Jain, vice president of Sulabh international told IANS that they have removed all signages.

"We were called by the district administration, after the meeting with DC M.R. Sharma. We have removed all signage boards and banners of Trump village," Jain told IANS.

"We will continue to build toilets," she said. 

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak told IANS, "We have not raised funds from the public. A few big companies are supporting us to build public conveniences. Marora was not declared ODF at the time of selecting it for ODF."

Marora village is home to nearly 1,800 people, mostly Meos (Muslims). Sulabh claimed that it has 160 houses, while only 20 have toilets.

Pathak, during a programme in Washington a few days ago, had announced that he will name an Indian village after Trump, as part of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations.