Apparently expecting to gain mileage in the forthcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, which are due in five months' time, the BJP government in the state has indicated that it will continue name changing spree following demands by the saffron outfits.
After re-christening Faizabad railway station as Ayodhya Cantt barely a few days back, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath hinted at changing the name of Badaun district, about 300 kilometres from here, as Vedamau. The indication of this effect came at a public rally addressed by Adityanath at Sahaswan in Badaun on Tuesday.
''This land was famous for the study of the Vedas in ancient times...Maharshi Bhagirathi had also prayed here and it was Bhagirathi, who had brought Ganga to this land,'' he said. ''The district was known as Vedamau earlier,'' he added.
The saffron outfits also supported Adityanath's contention that Badaun was known as Vedamau. They said that the names of all these places were changed during the Muslim rule in the country and that the time had come to restore those names.
The state government had earlier hinted that the names of Sultanpur, Mirzapur, Aligarh, Firozabad and Mainpuri could also be changed. There was also a proposal to change the names of the Ghazipur and Basti districts. The state government had earlier rechristened Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya.
''There are proposals to rechristen Sultanpur as Kush Bhavanpur, Aligarh as Harigarh, Mainpuri as Mayan Nagar, Firozabad as Chandra Nagar and,'' said Mirzapur as Vindhya Dham, said a BJP leader here.
Besides, the saffron outfits have also demanded to rechristen Agra as Agravan and Muzaffarnagar as Luxmi Nagar. Miyanganj, a town in the state's Unnao district, is also likely to be christened as Mayaganj.
There was also a proposal to change the name of Aligarh district to Harigarh. Similarly a proposal to rename Mainpuri district as 'Mayan Nagar' was also sent to the state government.
The proposals assume electoral significance as the state is scheduled to go to the polls in March next year. The opposition parties have termed the name changing proposals as ''electoral gimmicks'' intended to hide the failures of the state government.
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