Allahabad becomes Prayagraj: Yogi Adityanath makes 3 big name changes in UP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made three big name changes in the state since forming his government in March 2017. While Allahabad became Prayagraj this week, Farah Town station near Mathura and Mughalsarai junction were earlier renamed after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. However, it is the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party that has the dubious honour of making the the most number of name changes. During her tenure, Noida became Gautam Buddha Nagar, Sambhal became Bhim Nagar, Kasganj was renamed Kanshiram Nagar and so on. The Samajwadi Party government under Akhilesh Yadav undid several of those changes. He restored the names of Amroha, Hapur and Amethi, among others, claiming that the new names were creating confusion.

A friend in need

The Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) in Madhya Pradesh has suddenly become the cynosure of all eyes. After being cold-shouldered by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party in Madhya Pradesh, Congress has reached out to it in the hope of forming an alternative political alliance ahead of the November 28 Assembly elections in the state. Interestingly, the SP had announced a tie-up with the GGP after party chief Akhilesh Yadav said last week that it was fed up of waiting for the Congress to come to the table to finalise a pre-election deal. Congress campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia said its alliances in the state would be aimed primarily at “throwing out the ruling BJP government”.

Clean-up act 

As soon as the election dates were announced in Madhya Pradesh, the model code of conduct also came into force. The Election Commission (EC) ordered removal of all posters, banners and other publicity material from public places. The pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also removed from various places. However, pictures of the Prime Minister continued to grace some SBI ATMs. These pictures were part of the advertising collateral for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Earlier this week, the EC issued notices to a string of public sector banks, asking them to remove these pictures without delay. There are almost 8,000 public sector bank ATMs in the state, of which 4,000 belong to the SBI.