Parliament okays bill to rechristen Uttaranchal

NEW DELHI: Decks were on Thursday cleared for renaming Uttaranchal as Uttarakhand with Parliament approving the measure in this regard.

While the Uttaranchal (Alternation of Name) Bill, 2006, was passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, it was adopted by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a brief discussion on the bill, BJP members sought to take credit for the bifurcation of Uttar Pradesh and described the move as diversionary tactics of the Congress ahead of coming Assembly elections in the state.

Ravishankar Prasad (BJP) said the renaming would cost the exchequer between Rs.400 crore to Rs.500 crore and wondered why the Congress Government had decided on this only a few months ago.

Congress member Jaiprakash Agarwal welcomed it and said this would fulfill aspirations of the people of the state.

The House witnessed a brief furore when Brinda Karat (CPI-M) sought to give the credit for this move to the Congress but expressed doubt over its timing.

This was stoutly countered by Sushma Swaraj (BJP) who said the demand for the creation of Uttaranchal was made by her through a Private Member's resolution over a decade ago.

SP member Banwarilal Kanchal demanded restoring Haridwar and Rudrapur to Uttar Pradesh.