Renuka Chaudhary snubs Raja Singh over Hyderabad name change demand

Congress leader and member of Rajya Sabha Renuka Chaudhary on Friday snubbed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raja Singh for demanding change in the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar.

Speaking to ANI, Chaudhary said, "Who is Raja Singh to say anything about Hyderabad? We are Hyderabadis, and we are proud to be Hyderabadis. And who is anyone to take away our identity? If he wants, he can change his name, no one will object."

Raja Singh, an MLA from Goshamahal assembly constituency on Thursday claimed that the BJP would rename Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar, and will also change the name of Secunderabad and Karimnagar if voted to power in the state.

"Earlier, Hyderabad was Bhagyanagar. In 1590 Quli Qutub Shah changed Bhagyanagar to Hyderabad," Singh told ANI.

Singh's statement comes close on the heels of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stating recently that they would take concrete steps to change the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati after assessing "legal and all other angles."

There is a sudden spurt in demands seeking change in the names of various cities after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya, and Allahabad as Prayagraj. Only recently the name of Mughalsarai Railway Station was renamed as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction.