Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday reiterated his demand to rename Aligarh as “Harigarh.” Speaking at a ‘Hindu Gaurav Diwas’ event marking the death anniversary of former CM Kalyan Singh, Maurya said that just as Faizabad was renamed Ayodhya, Allahabad as Prayagraj, Aligarh too should be renamed without delay.
“You all know Ayodhya was once called Faizabad. But under the leadership of our respected chief minister (Adityanath), it was renamed Ayodhya again. Similarly, Prayagraj was earlier known as Allahabad. Just two days ago, Shahjahanpur’s Jalalabad was renamed Parshurampuri. Then there should be no delay in renaming Aligarh to Harigarh,” Maurya said.
At the function he also said that it was his wish that “Babuji”, as Singh is popularly known, be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour. The deputy CM shared the stage with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Cabinet Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister Jitin Prasada, and other dignitaries, who paid homage to Kalyan Singh.
Kalyan Singh, a native of Aligarh who served twice as the CM of Uttar Pradesh, is remembered for his role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and for steering the BJP’s early growth in the state.
Maurya also targeted the Samajwadi Party (SP) from the stage, saying the opposition party’s pitch on PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) is “nothing but divide and rule”.
“On Babuji’s death anniversary, we pledge to uproot the SP’s cycle (party symbol) and send it to Saifai. That will be a true tribute to Babuji,” he said, drawing applause from BJP workers present.
Since coming to power in March 2017, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has overseen several high-profile name changes in the state. Among them are the renaming of Faizabad to Ayodhya, Allahabad to Prayagraj, and Farah Town station near Mathura and Mughalsarai junction to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue.