Aligarh to be renamed Harigarh? Civic body sends proposal to UP government

The Aligarh Municipal Corporation has unanimously passed a proposal to change Aligarh's name to Harigarh. The proposal was presented by Mayor Prashant Singhal in a meeting on Monday and was supported by all councillors.

"In a meeting yesterday, a proposal was presented to change the name of Aligarh to Harigarh. All councillors unanimously supported this. Now, this proposal will be sent to the administration. I hope that the administration will take cognisance of this and fulfill our demand to change the name of Aligarh to Harigarh...This demand has been raised for a long time," Aligarh mayor Prashant Singhal said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

If the Uttar Pradesh government approves the proposal to rename Aligarh, it will add to the growing tally of places renamed in the BJP-ruled state. One of the most high-profile recent examples is the renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj in January 2019.

A state government can change the name of any city or area within the state. After a civic body unanimously approves a proposed name change resolution, it will write to the state government. The state government will subsequently forward the resolution to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for approval. If the ministry and other relevant agencies approve the resolution, the state government can officially change the name.

Name-change odyssey in Uttar Pradesh

In 2021, a proposal to rename Aligarh to Harigarh was approved by a zila panchayat meeting and sent to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In 2019, Chief Minister Adityanath indicated that his government will keep up with its spree of renaming places across the state.

"We did what we felt was good. We renamed Mughal Sarai as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar, Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad district as Ayodhya district. Where there is a need, the government will take the steps required," Yogi Adityanath had said.

Following the renaming of Faizabad district and Allahabad, members of the ruling BJP have called for other cities to be renamed as well. An Agra lawmaker had proposed that Agra be renamed Agravan or Agarwal, while another proposed that Muzaffarnagar be renamed Laxmi Nagar.