Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday said if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, her party will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar.
In a statement issued in New Delhi, she said, “As soon as the BSP comes to power (in Uttar Pradesh), it will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar. The previous Samajwadi Party government had changed its name due to its casteist mentality.”
Ms. Mayawati accused the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party of never honouring saint-poet Ravidas during their tenures and indulging in “theatrics” now by visiting temples.
‘List of work’
Listing the work done by the BSP to keep the memory of Ravidas alive, she said, “Sant Ravidas Park and Ghat were made in Varanasi, his place of birth, his statue was installed in Varanasi and the Ravidas Samman Puraskar constituted. The Santguru Ravidas Rajkiya Mahavidyalay was established in Faizabad. Apart from this, Sant Ravidas Polytechnic was established in Chandauli. A bridge on river Ganga was named after the saint. Assistance was given for Sant Ravidas Dharamshala in Badaun.”
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s assertion to rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar came close on the heels of a proposal to change the name of Basti, a district located in the eastern parts of the State, after Maharishi Vashishth.
The District Magistrate of Basti, Ashutosh Niranjan, had said the proposal to change the district’s name was sent to the revenue board and the expenditure for it was pegged at around ₹1 crore.
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj and that of Faizabad to Ayodhya.
It has also renamed the Mughalsarai railway station after Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
CM’s announcement
According to officials, about a year ago during the Basti Mahotsav, Chief Minister Adityanath had announced that the Basti Medical College will be named after Maharishi Vashishth, who, according to Hindu mythology, was the guru of Lord Ram and his brother Lord Lakshman.
