Unnao: The name changing game seems to be gathering momentum in Uttar Pradesh as the Assembly elections come near.
After districts, airports and railway stations, it is now the turn of gram panchayats to change their names.
The district magistrate of Unnao has written a letter to the government seeking change of the name of Miyaganj village to Mayaganj.
Official sources confirmed that the district magistrate’s letter had been received by the chief minister’s Office but the District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar declined to comment on the issue.
Yogi Adityanath apparently has a penchant for renaming places is not new.
As MP of Gorakhpur, he had declared that Urdu Bazaar would be known as Hindi Bazaar, Humayunpur as Hanuman Nagar, Miyan Bazaar as Maya Bazaar and Alinagar as Arya Nagar.
However, the names were not official as they were never ratified by the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation but local people gradually started using the new names.
Several shopkeepers in Urdu Bazaar had even put up ‘Hindi Bazaar’ signboards. Similarly, ‘Maya Nagar’ boards had come up at Miyan Bazaar.
The chief minister has already changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj, Faizabad to Ayodhya and Mughalsarai to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar.