After Allahabad and Faizabad, name of another Uttar Pradesh city Aligarh is likely to be changed soon. A proposal to change Aligarh’s name has be passed by the Aligarh Municipal Corporation and it will now be sent to UP government, Aligarh Mayor Prashant Singhal said on Tuesday.
“In a meeting yesterday, a proposal was presented to change the name of Aligarh to Harigarh. All councillors unanimously supported this. Now, this proposal will be sent to the administration. I hope that the administration will take cognizance of this and fulfill our demand to change the name of Aligarh to Harigarh…This demand has been being raised for a long time,” the Aligarh mayor was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
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Now the onus will be on the Yogi Adityanath government and if it gives its go ahead to the name change proposal, Aligarh will be known as Harigarh. However, it will also need the approval to Union Home Ministry If it goes through, Aligarh will be the latest addition to UP cities whose name has been changed.
Earlier in 2018, Mughal Sarai’s name was changed to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar and a year later Allahabad was renamed to Prayagraj. The Yogi government has also renamed Faizabad district to Ayodhya.
According to the rules, a state government can change the name of any area within the state. The process of it involves approval of a unanimous proposal from the municipal body, which is then sent to the state government. If the state government also agrees, it then sent it to the Union Home Ministry for approval. Once the home ministry gives its approval, the state government can officially change the name.
When the name of Allahabad was changed in 2019, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had hinted that his government will keep up with renaming places across the state.
“We did what we felt was good. We renamed Mughal Sarai as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar, Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad district as Ayodhya district. Where there is a need, the government will take the steps required,” Yogi Adityanath had said.
