Yogi’s communal game plan in changing names of cities

Why does Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has a fascination for changing the names of the cities? This question is pertinent because Yogi Adityanath has once again suggested that the name of Azamgarh – the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav, be changed to Aryangarh.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath threw the hint regarding this while addressing a public meeting at Azamgarh on Friday when he said: "Azamgarh had an identity crisis during the previous regimes...the residents of the districts were not given rooms in hotels and inns as the district was famous for harbouring terrorists...we have changed that...now a university is coming up here, it appears that Azamgarh will now certainly become Aryangarh,"

When he made this announcement Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present on the dais.

Adityanath said since BJP took over in 2017, the UP government has changed the names of several districts and important places. And in last six months or so the suggestions are coming thick and fast suggesting changing the name of the districts and cities.

Why? This question is raised as what the Government will get by changing the names of the cities or districts. Will the development of that region speed up or the flow of funds will speed up if the names are changed.?

A little scrutiny suggests that names of only those cities are changed or the proposals have come for a change which are named after a Muslim leader, king, noble or a courtier. The names are replaced with a Hindu name. This shows that changing names of the cities is part of Yogi’s communal agenda. He wants to tell the world that during his rule Hindutva is restored and thus this spree to change the names.

Faizabad’s name was changed to Ayodhya, Mughalsarai Railway station to Pt. Deendayal Upadhaya Nagar and a proposal have come from BJP leaders to change the name of Badaun district to Vedamau.

The state government had earlier hinted that the names of Sultanpur district could be changed to Kush Bhavanpur, Mirzapur to Vindhiya Dham, Aligarh to Harigarh, Firozabad to Chandra Nagar, and Mainpuri to Mayan Nagar. There was also a proposal to change the names of the Ghazipur and Basti districts. The state government had earlier rechristened Allahabad as Prayagraj.