Maha to celebrate UP Foundation Day on Jan 24 next year: Naik

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today said that the Maharashtra government would celebrate the Foundation Day of the northern state here in January next year.

The move comes after Maharashtra's Foundation day, which falls on May 1, was celebrated over a period of two days at Lucknow's Raj Bhavan.

Speaking at a cultural function here, Naik said that from January 24 next year, the Maharashtra government would be celebrating the Foundation Day of UP officially.

"I have spoken to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (about this)," Naik said today.

The northern state's Foundation Day is celebrated on January 24, as it was on this day, in 1950, that the United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh.

"Two days before the Constitution of India was accepted, the Government of India issued a notification on January 24, 1950 by which United Provinces was renamed Uttar Pradesh, in the process preserving UP as the acronym. Therefore this date (January 24) was chosen," Naik said.

Naik was speaking at a function organised by an NGO, Abhiyan, which, incidentally, has been celebrating UP's Foundation Day here, albeit unofficially, for the past 29 years.

Naik informed that UP was not celebrating its own Foundation Day for all these years and his suggestion to former chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to organise them was also in vain.

"I had mooted the proposal, to celebrate January 24 as UP Divas, to former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav but he did nothing due to political compulsions. But when the Yogi government (Yogi Adityanath) came, I proposed it and he (Yogi) was quick to accept it," Naik, a former MP from North Mumbai, said.

Speaking on another issue, Naik said that it was necessary to use Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar's full name in government records, as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, since people were "unaware" of his "correct initials".

He said, "Due to inadequate information, people in UP were unaware about the correct initials of Babasaheb. I showed them the specimen of the signature, made by Babasaheb himself, as a member of the drafting committee."