Soon after UP CM Yogi Adityanath declared that if a consensus is reached to rename Allahabad, his government will change its name to Prayagraj, the Congress party on Sunday has come out opposing the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s decision.
According to the reports, Congress spokesperson Onkar Singh said that Allahabad had a history attached to it, which has played an important role since the days of Independence and renaming the name of the city to Prayagraj by erasing Allahabad would be an insult to the freedom movement. Onkar Singh further added that if the UP government is very much interested in changing the name, then a separate city of ‘Prayagraj’ can be carved out of Allahabad.
Singh further said, “During Gandhi-era and fight for independence, Allahabad has been a center for inspiration. In 1888, 1892 and then in 1910, Congress Mahaadhiveshans took place here, which gave shape to the freedom movement. The city gave the country its first Prime Minister. Moreover, the Allahabad University would lose its identity as it would also be named Prayagraj University.”
Ahead of the Kumbh Mela next year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday had announced that his government will rename the Allahabad district to Prayagraj after achieving the consensus. He had also said that he had got the Governor’s approval for renaming the city.
CM Yogi said, “Ganga aur Yamuna do pavitra nadi ka sangam ka sthal hone ke nate yahan sabhi prayago ka raaj hai, isiliye Allahabad ko Prayag raj bhi kehte hain (Two holy rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, join in Allahabad and hence there’s ‘raj’ of all ‘prayag’, confluence of rivers. And therefore, Allahabad is also known as Prayag Raj).”
BJP state spokesperson Manoj Mishra said the announcement has been made to respect the sentiments of lakhs and crores of people of the state. “Akbar ki Nishani Ko mita kar pauranik naam dena shreyaskar hai. (To remove the sign of Akbar and give a historical name is good).”
The Uttar Pradesh government in the past had also renamed the iconic Mughalsarai railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction on Monday. The Yogi Adityanath government had made this decision to revive the legacy of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, co-founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the present BJP.
