What’s in a name? For the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh it’s a lot, as it begun moves to soon change the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj. While the government views it as a tribute to the Sangam city ahead of the 2019 Kumbh Mela, Opposition parties questioned the logic behind it.
A proposal to change the name was passed in the Kumbh Mela Margdarshak Mandal meeting held in Allahabad on Saturday. Governor Ram Naik, who presided over the meeting, included several State Cabinet Ministers and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, also gave his consent.
‘Consent of all’
Mr. Naik said the proposal “had the consent of all and a proposal for it would be brought up in the next Cabinet meeting,” a government spokesperson said.
Briefing media after the meeting, Mr. Adityanath said that his government would take steps to “soon change the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj.” He said the new name was a tribute to the city as the confluence of two major rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna.
The government had made its intention clear after the body set up to organise the Kumbh was named the Prayagraj Mela Authority after it came to power last year. Even in its official banners, Allahabad has been replaced by Prayagraj.
Sidharthnath Singh, the U.P. Cabinet Minister and government spokesperson who first initiated the move to change the name of Allahabad by writing to the Governor earlier this year said “now the formal procedure would be followed”.
MLC’s taunt
Meanwhile, the police arrested a Samajwadi Party worker, Shiv Yadav, after he waved black flags at Mr. Adityanath’s cavalcade and shouted slogans against the move to change the name of Allahabad. SP MLC Anand Bhadauria taunted Mr. Adityanath saying he was unparalleled at changing names, be it his own (from Ajay Bisht) or the names of schemes started by the Akhilesh Yadav government to claim them as his own.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said that though he did not oppose the change in name, he would prefer that the BJP government “first restore the political, cultural and administrative stature” that Allahabad earned under successive Congress governments.
