MUMBAI, Feb. 20 -- Tension mounted across the Mira-Bhayandar region on Wednesday and Thursday after the BJP-led Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) passed a resolution to rename the 10-year-old Tipu Sultan Chowk in Mira Road as Ashfaqulla Khan Chowk. The proposal was approved in the General Assembly on Wednesday evening amid heated debate. The square, located in Naya Nagar, was developed by the civic body in 2016 and named after Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore who is remembered for resisting British expansion in south India. However, sections of the BJP have long objected to his legacy, alleging that he persecuted certain communities during his rule, a claim contested by many historians who view him as an anti-colonial figure. BJP MLA Narendra Mehta had earlier announced that the chowk's name would be changed before the 2024 Assembly elections. After the party came to power in the MBMC in 2026, corporator Sanjay Pawar formally moved the proposal in the General Assembly. Opposition parties opposed the move, alleging that the name was being changed without justification. During the debate, Congress corporator Anil Sawant suggested that if the name had to be altered, it should honour Ashfaqulla Khan, a revolutionary associated with the Kakori conspiracy and executed by the British in 1927. Police deployed bandobast across sensitive pockets of Mira Road following the decision. However, no untoward incident was reported....