After Yogi Adityanath’s government was formed in UP, Mughalsarai was first renamed as Deendayal Nagar and then Faizabad was renamed as Ayodhya. Now the discussion about changing the name of the capital Lucknow has intensified. BJP’s own MP Sangam Lal Gupta has fueled this discussion. Pratapgarh MP Sangamlal Gupta has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding that Lucknow be renamed as Laxmanpur.
He has written in the letter that now the country has entered the immortal period, then the name of Lucknow, the symbol of slavery and luxury, should be changed to Lakhanpur or Laxmanpur, the symbol of India’s magnificent cultural heritage, pride, prosperity, dignity and manhood. He has posted this letter on his Twitter handle. Now re-tweeting is happening in support of this.
The MP has written in the letter that according to the local belief, Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, was gifted by Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram to Ayodhya King Shri Laxman ji in Treta Yug. That is why it was named Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur. But later in the 18th century, Nawab Asafuddaula changed its name to Lucknow. Lucknow is running in the same tradition.
He further wrote that today in a country rich in glorious cultural heritage, it seems completely unfair to give our future generation a hint of slavery by telling stories of luxury and inefficiency of the Nawabs of Lucknow even in the Amrit period. Lord Dalhousie acquired Awadh and merged it with the British Empire because of inefficiency and luxurious lifestyle. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah had accepted British suzerainty.
Speculations were also intensified due to CM Yogi’s tweet
A tweet by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcoming PM Narendra Modi also fueled speculation about renaming the capital Lucknow. CM Yogi, who arrived to welcome PM Modi, wrote in a tweet that you are heartily welcome to Lucknow, the holy city of Sheshavatar Lord Laxman ji.
The tweet was posted along with a photograph of Governor Anandiben Patel welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Amausi airport. After this tweet, it is being speculated that Lucknow can be named after Laxman ji.
Although this tweet of CM Yogi was a normal welcome tweet, but the writing of ‘Holy city of Laxman’ by CM Yogi in the tweet was being considered as a sign of name change. This speculation is also being raised because before this the demand to change the name of Lucknow to Lakhanpuri, Laxmanpuri and Lakhanpur has been raised many times.
After getting the power of UP in 2017, the name of Mughalsarai station was first changed in UP under the rule of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Mughalsarai station became Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay station in August 2018 after the Yogi government’s proposal got the approval of the central government. After this Yogi cabinet also changed the name of Mughalsarai tehsil.
Yogi cabinet changed the name of Tehsil to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Tehsil. Along with this, the Yogi government also changed the name of Faizabad district to Ayodhya. That is, the Faizabad district under which the city of Ayodhya came, its form was changed and the whole district was made Ayodhya.
Ayodhya, the city of Lord Shri Ram, is situated at a distance of just 80 kilometers from Lucknow. It is said that Lucknow was founded by Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Shri Ram. Veteran BJP leader Lalji Tandon, who was an MP from Lucknow and former minister, has described Lucknow as Laxman Nagri in one of his books. There are many such places in Lucknow including Laxman Tila, Laxman Puri, Laxman Park which are named after Laxman.