People with zero understanding of history: Yogi on those criticising Allahabad name change

Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday lashed out against those who have criticised the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj and said they have no understanding of history and tradition.

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet cleared the proposal for the name change in a meeting held earlier on Tuesday. The Cabinet has said that instructions will be sent to all concerned departments and institutions to follow the new order.  Soon after, criticism began emerging from various quarters against the move to change the name of the historic city. CM Adityanath though strongly defended the move. "Prayagraj was named Allahabad during the Mughal era, around 500 years ago. The place is a confluence of three Holy rivers namely the Saraswati, Yamuna and Ganga. Hence the name Prayagraj," he said. "People who have zero understanding of our history and traditions would question the move."

The proposal to change the name was floated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Siddharth Nath Singh a few months ago where he recommended that Allahabad should be renamed as Prayagraj. 

As per some reports, banners for the upcoming Kumbh Mela in 2019 mention the name of the city as Prayagraj instead of Allahabad. The renaming might take place before the Kumbh Mela begins in Allahabad on January 15, 2019. This and the previous renaming of Mughalsarai railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction could well open the doors to more such moves. There is already a proposal to change rename the Bareilly airport as 'Nath Nagri', move to rename Agra Airport after Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya and possibly rename Kanpur's airport as well.

Political rivals have questioned such name changes and have accused the Yogi government in the state of focusing more on these rather than key issues of development and people's welfare.