LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government is set to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj ahead of the Kumbh Mela. An announcement to this effect was made by the CM during his visit to Allahabad to review the preparations for mega event. “The decision to rename Allahabad came through after the Akhada Parishad gave a proposal for the same. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has also given his consent,” CM Adityanath told TNIE.
He added that his government also supported the proposal and that the Cabinet would also approve the renaming.The CM said the word Prayag represents the confluence of two or more rivers. “It is deemed to be Prayagraj, the king of five prayags — Nand, Vishnu, Rudra, Karna and Dev — which fall in Uttarakhand, representing the confluence of different forms of the Ganga...” He added that since the Ganga met the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati in Prayagraj, so the place was to be called by the same name.
“We are going just to restore that ancient name of Allahabad to make its connect with the confluence clear,” said the CM. However, the announcement has left opposition parties fuming. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the government saying, “Raja Harshvardhan of Kannauj made the ‘Prayag Kumbh’ great by offering donations, but today’s rulers are trying to take credit for his work just by renaming the city.”
He also claimed the Yogi government was cheating people by renaming the ‘Ardh Kumbh’ as the ‘Kumbh.’ Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Onkar Nath Singh said changing the name was an attempt to undermine historical importance of the city.