Gujarat: BJP govt keen to rename Ahmedabad to Karnavati, Cong calls it poll gimmick

Hours after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the renaming of Faizabad district as Ayodhya, the Gujarat government on Tuesday, November 6, said it was keen on renaming Ahmedabad as Karnavati, if there were no legal hurdles.

Speaking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was willing to change Ahmedabad's name if it gets past the legal hurdles and receives required support.

"People are still having a feeling that Ahmedabad should be renamed as Karnavati. If we get required support to overcome the legal hurdles, we are always ready to change the name of the city,"Patel told reporters when asked if the state government had a plan to rename India's only city having the 'World Heritage' tag.

Historically, the area around Ahmedabad has been inhabited since the 11th century, when it was known as Ashaval.

Chaulukya ruler Karna of Anhilwara (modern Patan) had waged a successful war against the Bhil king of Ashaval and established a city called Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati river.

Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411 AD had laid the foundation of a new walled city near Karnavati and named it Ahmedabad after the four saints in the area by the name Ahmed.

"We can think of changing the name at an appropriate time," Patel added.

Slamming the BJP government over the issue, state unit Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the promise to rename Ahmedabad was just another "poll gimmick" by the ruling party.

"For the BJP, issues like construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and renaming Ahmedabad to Karnavati are simply ways to get votes of Hindus," said Doshi.

"BJP leaders dump such issues after coming to power. They only cheated Hindus all these years," he added.

UP Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu said that instead of focusing on development, the UP government was busy changing names. “These people are miles away from development. All we can say is that they do not desire development. They are playing with the feelings of people by changing names. They are not focusing on basic issues. In a place like UP which is now a hub of crime, they are busy changing names,” he said.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said, “They have confused changing names for work. Yesterday, they changed the name of the Ekana stadium in Lucknow and today, this. In a democracy, the government should not misuse its power, but this is exactly what the BJP is doing. The law and order situation in UP is at its worst, but they are busy changing names.”

“This is the BJP government’s ploy to cover up its failure in governance. At the same time, the name change also reflects its anti-Muslim feelings. First it changed the name of Allahabad to Prayag Raj and now their move is to change the name of Faizabad because they think these are Muslim names,” said CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy.

with PTI inputs.