Politics of renaming districts including capital Lucknow gains momentum in UP

LUCKNOW: The politics around the renaming of districts including the state capital Lucknow has picked up yet again in India's largest state. 

The state's Deputy Chief Ministers – Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak—on Wednesday backed a demand from BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta seeking the authorities to rename Lucknow as Lakshmanpuri. The BJP MP's demand also received support from senior party leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

BJP’s Pratapgarh MP had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to get Lucknow renamed as "Lakhanpur or Lakshmanpur," claiming that the city was given its current name in the 18th century by Nawab Asifuddaula.

While Deputy CM Keshav Maurya claimed that historically Lucknow was known as 'Lakhanpuri' which became Lucknow with the passage of time, the other Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak repeated the same argument in Bhadohi on Wednesday claiming that Lucknow was earlier known as 'Laxman Nagri' and the state government would move forward to rename it "according to the situation."

The Pratapgarh MP had claimed in his letter that Lord Ram had gifted the city of Lucknow to his brother Lakshman and it was known as 'Lakhanpur' or 'Lakshmanpur' earlier.

Meanwhile, OP Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), the former ally of the ruling BJP, on Wednesday re-sent a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath demanding the renaming of two districts Ghazipur and Bahraich after Maharshi Vishwamitra and Raja Suheldev, respectively.

Talking to media persons, Rajbhar said that while being a part of the Yogi cabinet in 2017, he had raised the demand of renaming the Ghazipur and Bahraich districts. "The same demands have been sent to the CM again," he said.

Rajbhar substantiated his demand by saying that at a time when a grand Ram temple was coming up in Ayodhya which was witnessing a makeover in consonance with its ambience of Treta Yug when Lord Ram ruled it. "It is an ideal time to pay homage to his Guru Maharshi Vishwamitra by renaming Ghazipur which used to have the Ashram of the saint," said Rajbhar mentioning that Ghazipur should be renamed as Vishwamitra Nagar.

He added that since Bahraich was the birthplace of legendary Maharaja Suheldev who had neutralized invader Ghazi Saiyyed Salar Masood, the district should be named after the warrior king.

"As new chapters are being attached to history under Modi’s leadership, renaming of Bahraich should be done to enable future generations to recall the efforts of the legendary warrior king who belonged to this soil. So Bahraich should be renamed as Suheldev Nagar," he said.

SBSP spokesman Piyush Mishra said that Ghazipur was named so by 14th-century king Firoz Shah Tuglaq after Ghazi Saiyyed Salar Masood.