Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday reiterated his demand to rename Aligarh as “Harigarh”. Speaking at the ‘Hindu Gaurav Diwas’ event organised on the death anniversary of former chief minister Kalyan Singh, Maurya said that just as Faizabad was renamed as Ayodhya and Allahabad as Prayagraj, Aligarh should also be renamed without any delay.
“You all know that Ayodhya was earlier called Faizabad. But under the leadership of our respected chief minister (Adityanath), it was renamed as Ayodhya again. Similarly, Prayagraj was earlier known as Allahabad. Just two days ago, Jalalabad in Shahjahanpur was renamed as Parshurampuri. So there should be no delay in renaming Aligarh as Harigarh,” Maurya said.
At the ceremony, he also said that he wishes that Singh, popularly known as “Babuji”, be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour. The deputy chief minister shared the stage with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Cabinet minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister Jitin Prasada and other dignitaries who paid tributes to Kalyan Singh.
Aligarh native Kalyan Singh, who served as Uttar Pradesh chief minister twice, is remembered for his role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and his role in the early growth of the BJP in the state.
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Maurya also took a dig at the Samajwadi Party (SP) from the stage and said the opposition party’s slogan on PDA (backward, Dalit, minority) is nothing but “divide and rule”.
“On Babuji’s death anniversary, we pledge to uproot the SP’s cycle (party’s election symbol) and send it to Saifai. That will be a true tribute to Babuji,” he said. This drew applause from the BJP workers present.
In November 2023, the Aligarh Nagar Nigam (Nagar Nigam) unanimously approved a proposal to rename the city as Harigarh and submitted it to the state government’s urban development department, and later to the cabinet for approval.
Since coming to power in March 2017, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has carried out several major name changes in the state. These include renaming Faizabad as Ayodhya, Allahabad as Prayagraj, Farah Town station near Mathura and Mughalsarai Junction after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay.