“Did what felt good, Will continue to do”, Yogi Adityanath on renaming spree

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hinted that he will continue to change the names of places across the biggest states of the country. Despite having received backlash on social media, Adityanath said that ‘we did what we felt was good’?

Firstly, Yogi Adityanath had changed the name of Faizabad and Allahabad, following that BJP demanded more names to be changed in the state. On Friday, Agra North lawmaker Jagan Prasad Garg said that Agra should be renamed as Agravan or Agarwal, while controversial legislator from Sardhana Sangeet Som demanded that the name of Muzaffarnagar to be changed to Laxmi Nagar.

“We did what we felt was good. We renamed Mughal Sarai as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar, Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya. Where there is a need, the government will take the steps required,” Yogi Adityanath quoted by NDTV as saying.

However, BJP’s allies were not seen impressed with the Uttar Pradesh government’s renaming spree.

Also read: Yogi Adityanath: Ram temple was there, is there, will always be there

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar called this a move to divert attention from the needs of oppressed sections of society. He also asked the party to first change the names of its own Muslim leaders.

“BJP changed the names of Mughalsarai and Faizabad. They say they were named after the Mughals. They have a national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza. They should change their names first,” Mr Rajbhar told NDTV.

Asking questions over the monuments built by Muslim, he asked, “This is all a drama to distract backwards and oppressed people whenever they raise their voices for their rights. No one else has given the things which Muslims have given. Should we throw away the GT Road? Who built the Red Fort? Who built the Taj Mahal.”

Shiv Sena, the BJP’s ally in Maharashtra, said that renaming cities in Uttar Pradesh were nothing but a “lollipop” to woo voters ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Calling renaming spree a lollipop and attempt to woo voters, Sena said in its mouthpiece, Saamna, “The BJP promised a Ram Temple but all it has given is a new name to Faizabad and a (proposed) statue. This is a lollipop given by the BJP in view of the upcoming general elections.”

Also read: Yogi Adityanath: Congress actively supported Naxalism in Chhattisgarh and toyed with security