Change name of every place with Mughal connection: Union Minister Giriraj Singh
Singh said, "Names associated with the Mughals should be changed in the entire country because we are no longer slaves to them. When India is a free country, why should we keep names linked with them?"
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh triggered controversy on Monday after he advocated renaming all places that are currently named after Mughals and went on to laud Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's move to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
Singh said, "Names associated with the Mughals should be changed in the entire country because we are no longer slaves to them. When India is a free country, why should we keep names linked with them?"
Citing the example of Bihar's Bakhtiyarpur, birthplace of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Singh said, "Do people know that Khilji looted the state and yet Bakhtiyarpur is named after him. There are places like Akbarpur. What is the sense in continuing with these names?"
Ally JD-U, however, disagreed and party spokesperson Sanjay Singh said, "Some people want to divide the nation, but our country belongs to all. Instead of suggesting changing names, we should look into its historical importance."The RJD also distanced itself from the notion.