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BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated new Deen Dayal Upadhyaya railway station, which was earlier known as Mughalsarai. Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also present.
The century-old station on the busy Delhi-Howrah route is being touched up with saffron paint at places and signboards with the new name being put up. Upadhyaya was found dead in mysterious circumstances near the Mughalsarai station in February 1968. The RSS has raised demand to rename the station ever since. Mughalsarai is also the birth place of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
New projects to be launched today
The political bigwigs will give a green signal to Ekatmata Express, which will now follow a new route from Lucknow to Mughalsarai. Railway officials said it will be the first time in the country that an all-woman crew runs a goods train. The leaders will launch a project to upgrade the yard at the station.
Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and other senior BJP leaders will also be present.
Station renaming controversy
On paper, Mughalsarai station got a new name after Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik gave his assent to the proposal in June. The Centre gave its in-principle approval last year to the state government's proposal to rename the station, which is among the busiest in the country.
The move drew flak from the opposition which accused the ruling party of attempting to tamper with history.
UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey on Saturday said the BJP governments in the state and at the Centre had imbibed Deen Dayal Upadhyay's philosophy of 'antyodaya', or caring for the last person in society.
(With inputs from PTI)
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