'Hyderabad Will be Bhagyanagar': Yogi Adityanath Says at Poll Rally in Telangana | WATCH

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday, while addressing an election rally in Telangana, claimed that Hyderabad will soon be renamed as ‘Bhagyanagar’ when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power.

“Congress made Hyderabad what it is today, BJP will make Hyderabad Bhagyanagar again. Goddess Bhagyalaxmi is here and we are committed to naming the city after her. This will be our party’s gift for all the Ram Bhakts in Telangana,” said Adityanath during the rally in Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district.

However, this is not the first time Adityanath raised calls to rename Hyderabad as ‘Bhagyanagar’. In 2020, while campaigning for the party during the municipal elections, Adityanath said that Hyderabad should ideally be called Bhagyanagar and attributed the name ‘Bhagyanagar’ to the Bhagyalaxmi temple.

The BJP leader further alleged that the “Muslim reservations” in Telangana are an insult to the Constitution made by Dr B R Ambedkar.

“Dirty game of appeasement politics can be seen in Telangana now. We have seen in Telangana to what extent a government can go to divide the society when the BRS government announces Muslim reservation,” Adityanath said.

Earlier on Friday, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the BJP will rename Hyderabad as ‘Bhagyanagar’ within 30 minutes of BJP coming to power in the state. Sarma further emphasised that no one will raise a hue and cry if Hyderabad is renamed.

Hyderabad Renaming: The Debate

The issue of renaming Hyderabad has been a recurring point of discussion in cultural and political circles.

The controversy earlier erupted in 2021 over the demand for renaming Hyderabad as ‘Bhagyanagar’ after Union Minister of State for Railways, Raosaheb Danve, said on Wednesday that there should be no objection to rechristening Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar.

Telangana is all set to elect a new assembly, the issue of renaming Hyderabad has once again come to the fore with BJP leaders claiming that the same will be done if BJP comes to power in the state.

Yogi Adityanath Renamed These Cities in UP

Yogi Adityanath often faced criticism for changing the names of cities across Uttar Pradesh. The chief minister renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya and Allahabad as Prayagraj in a cabinet meeting chaired by him in 2018.

His government also changed the name of Mughal Sarai to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar.

The government also renamed Aligarh. Earlier this month, the Aligarh Municipal Corporation unanimously passed a proposal to change Aligarh’s name to Harigarh.