The BJP would “aim” to rename Hyderabad and other cities in the state after the names of great people if it is elected to power in Telangana in the December 7 poll, party leader Raja Singh said Thursday.
“Our aim is when our Bharatiya Janata Party government comes to power in Telangana, our first (priority) is development, second is these names should be changed. They should be named after great people, those who worked for our nation, righteousness and Telangana,” he told PTI.
Singh, who was a member of the recently-dissolved legislative assembly, said the Qutb Shahis, who ruled the region during the 16th century, had changed the name of the city, Bhagyanagar, to Hyderabad.
They had also changed the names of other places, he said, adding Secunderabad and Karimnagar were among them.
Singh also found fault with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi’s comments earlier Thursday that BJP president Amit Shah wants a “Muslim-free” India. He said Muslims should not believe Owaisi, who had often spoken against Telangana.
Owaisi is Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad.
Telangana goes to polls on December 7.
The lawmaker adds to the name-changing frenzy in states ruled by his party, mainly Uttar Pradesh, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya.
Read | Yogi Adityanath renames Faizabad to Ayodhya
The iconic Mughalsarai railway station was renamed Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction.
In Gujarat, the government is planning on renaming Ahmedabad as “Karnavati” if there are no legal hurdles.
Read | Will look at Ahmedabad name change to Karnavati from legal, other angles: Gujarat CM
A day after Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel revealed the state government’s intention of renaming Ahmedabad, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said his government would “think about it in the time to come”.
(With PTI inputs)