Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Saturday attacked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over changing the names of the cities and towns and said that the party should first change the names of the three of their Muslim leaders.
"BJP changed the names of Mughalsarai and Faizabad. They say they were named after the Mughals. They have a national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza-three Muslim faces of the BJP. They should change their names first," ANI quoted the minister as saying.
Further sharpening his attack on the BJP, he alleged that the names of places were changed just to divert attention of the backward and oppressed people from the issues, which concern them. "This is all a drama to distract the backward and oppressed people whenever they raise their voices for their rights. No one else has given the things which Muslims have given. Should we throw away the GT Road? Who built the Red Fort? Who built the Taj Mahal," he asked.
This comes days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya.
Rajbhar also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government at the Centre for demonetisation. "What was the use of demonetisation if all the money came back to the Reserve Bank of India? If they want to end corruption, then they should illegalise the use of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 notes," he said.
Taking it to Twitter, Mehbooba Mufti said, "Name changing is an attempt to demolish the idea of India we grew up with."
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet had approved a proposal to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, senior Cabinet minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said, "The renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj before Kumbh Mela came for approval in the meeting and I am happy to say Allahabad will now be known as Prayagraj."
"Rig Veda, Mahabharat and Ramayana also mention Prayagraj (for Allahabad)," he noted.
"The people of entire Allahabad, the sages and seers wanted that Allahabad should be known as Prayagraj. Two days back, when the chief minister had chaired a meeting pertaining to Kumbh there, he had himself mooted that Allahabad should be called Prayagraj. All the sages and seers had given their unanimous approval for the same," he added.
(With inputs from agencies)