The BJP is on a roll with changing names of places, from railway stations to cricket stadiums and even cities. The most recent news of a proposed name change comes from the Telengana BJP politician and legislator Raja Singh. He has said that if the party comes to power in the state, Hyderabad will be renamed as Bhagyanagar and its twin city Secunderabad will be changed to Karimnagar.
This comes at a time just after Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that Ahmedabad—India's only city with the "World Heritage" tag—will be changed to Karnavati before 2019.
"Earlier, Hyderabad was Bhagyanagar and in 1590 Quli Qutub Shah came to Hyderabad, he changed Bhagyanagar to Hyderabad... We are planning to rename Hyderabad," Singh said.
"In Telangana, the BJP will win a majority and then our first aim will be developing the state and second objective will be renaming Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar. We will also change the names of Secunderabad and Karimnagar," he said.
Singh also made his and his party's intentions clear as to why these cities need their names changed. According to a report by NDTV, Singh said that places that were named after Mughals and Nizams will be changed. The new names, he said will reflect the people who fought for Telangana, as well as the country on the whole.
Only yesterday, reports emerged that the Shiv Sena has asked the CM of Maharashtra to change the name of Aurangabad to Sambaji Nagar.
Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday announced that Faizabad would be renamed Ayodhya.
Adityanath also changed Allahabad to Prayagraj last month and when questioned, he reportedly said that names of cities hold meaning in society and so renaming Allahabad was important.
He further questioned the media personnel,"...why didn't your parents name you Ravan or Duryodhan?"
UP's Mughalsarai Railway Station's name was changed to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction. While inaugurating the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Adityanath renamed it Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium' after one of BJP's most beloved leaders.
After the Prayagraj move, reports emerged that the Himachal Pradesh government. Led by Jai Ram Thakur was mulling changing Shimla, one of the state's most well-known places to Shyamala.
In 2016, another BJP politician Manohar Lal Khattar, changed the city of Gurgaon to Gurugram.
Places that are facing name changes this year:
Hyderabad—Bhagyanagar
Secunderabad—Karimnagar
Faizabad—Ayodhya
Shimla—Shyamala
Aurangabad—Sambaji Nagar
