Uttar Pradesh: Yogi govt 2.0 mulling to rename 12 districts

Lucknow: In the second tenure of Yogi Government in Uttar Pradesh, more names of districts and cities are likely to change. The state government is mulling to change the name of 12 such districts and cities. The proposals in this regard has been sent by the local representatives earlier.

According to sources, the renaming of 12 districts is under consideration with the state government and very soon, a proposal in this regard might be tabled in the state assembly. The state government might first consider renaming of Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Badaun, Sultanpur, Ferozabad and Shahjahanpur while the remaining would be looked into later on. The state government has received proposals from legislators, MPs and Zila Panchayat boards of these districts. Among the cities that could be renamed is Deoband whose legislator Brijesh Kumar has suggested it to be changed as Deovrind.

It may be mentioned that in its first tenure in UP, Yogi Govt had changed the name of Faizabad to Ayodhya and Allahabad to Prayagraj. Besides, it had recommended the union government to rename the Mughalsarai junction as Deendayal Uppadhya, which was accepted.

According to officials in the state government, the Zila Panchayat of Aligarh has sent a proposal of renaming the district as Harigarh or Aryagarh. The demand to rename Aligarh as Harigarh was first raised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 2015. Similar demand has been raised from Sultanpur district also to rename it as Kushbhawanpur. Former BJP legislator of Sultanpur, Deomani Diwedi was the first one to raise his voice for it. The former legislator of Gazipur had demanding renaming of district as Gadhipuri while the CM Yogi himself had stated during the election campaign that Badaun district be known as Vedmau as it was a place of teaching of Vedas.

Also in the previous tenure of CM Yogi, the proposal to change the name of Ferozabad district to Chandranagar and Shahjahanpur to Shajipur was mooted by people’s representatives of these places. In August last year, the Zila Panchayat board of Mainpuri district had asked the state govt to rename it as Mayanpuri. The demand to rename Agra as Agravan is decades old.

The officials in the state government said that to rename any district a proposal is to be tabled in the assembly after whose clearance it would be sent to the Centre. In the coming session of UP assembly, few such proposals might come.

Published on: Tuesday, April 05, 2022, 05:18 PM IST