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 A row is being kicked up on Bangalore roads over Pakistan’s civil rights activist Malala Yousafzai: While the Congress party wants a prominent road in the citynamed after the teenager, the ruling BJP in the Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike (BBMP) counters with a 2008 order under wich roads cannot be named after living people.

The `Malala mind-game’ is being played in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls: If Congress hopes to score some brownie points with religious minority groups by suggesting Malala’s name, the BJP plans to consolidate its votebase by opposing it.

The first signs of the row came to the fore on Monday morning when a delegation of local Congress leaders submitted a representation to Mayor B S Satyanarayana, from the BJP, giving a list of personalities who should be honoured by naming roads, parks and streets after them. The delegation led by MLA N L Narendra Babu and local leader V Manohar suggested Malala’s name as she was fighting for the cause of female education in Pakistan.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson B L Shankar, when contacted, explained: "She might be Pakistani-national but we should recognize the cause for which she is fighting. Her work is known to everyone and now she is been recognized worldwide. There is nothing wrong if her name is given to one of the streets of Bangalore city. She has been honored by every nation, how can we object to her?"

He added: "Whatever the relations are between the two countries, she has spoken well about India and she feels both the countries should stay peaceful and united.’’

Manohar pointed out that Malala has been fighting terrorism. ’’She is young and we want her name to inspire others in the city. So we have proposed her name."

However, Satyanarayana said: "The Congress delegation has submitted a memorandum to me which will be sent to all the assistant revenue officers to take opinion of local residents in their localities."