Yogi Adityanath govt renames Allahabad as Prayagraj
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday officially renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj. The decision comes ahead of the Kumbh Mela which will held in the city from January 15 next year till March 4.
Earlier, announcing the decision, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that cabinet had passed the resolution and Governor Ram Naik had given his consent to the proposal on Saturday.
The decision to change the city's name had drawn protests from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
While the Congress has said that the change would diminish the importance that Allahabad had in the country’s freedom movement and does not make sense, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Monday alleged that Adityanath government’s proposed move was another example of its trait for “renaming”.
Today’s rulers were trying to show that they are working by just changing the name of Allahabad, said Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet.
“... They have even re-named Ardh Kumbh to Kumbh. This is toying with tradition and belief,” he said.
State Minister and government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma however alleged that the belief of people were hurt when the city was named Allahabad.
“Some persons are objecting to renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj. The objections are baseless. It is the right of the government to rename any city. If needed, we will rename more cities and roads. The mistakes done earlier will be rectified,” he said, reported PTI.
The move to rename Allahabad comes after the state government renamed the Mughalsarai station as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Junction earlier this year.
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