Som defended the BJP ’s name-changing spree and said many more cities will be renamed in future.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sangeet Som on Friday demanded that Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district be renamed as Laxminagar. Speaking to news agency ANI, Som defended the BJP’s name-changing spree and said many more cities will be renamed in future. “Abhi to bahut shehron ke naam badle jaane hain. Muzaffarnagar ka naam badla jana hai… Muzaffarnagar ka naam Laxminagar logon ki pehle se maang hai. Muzaffarnagar naam ek nawab Muzaffar Ali ne kiya tha… Logon ki sadion se demand hai ki iska naam Laxminagar kiya jaaye (A number of cities have to be renamed. Muzaffarnagar’s name has to be changed… Muzaffarnagar was renamed after a nawab named Muzaffar Ali. People have been demanding for centuries that Muzaffarnagar be renamed as Laxminagar),” Som said.

“Mughalon ne yahan ki sanskriti ko mitaane ka kaam kiya hai, khaas taur se Hindutva ko mitaane ka kaam kiya hai. Humlog uss sanskriti ko bachane ke liye kaam kar rahe hain. BJP uspe aage badhegi,” added the BJP MLA. (Mughals erased the culture of this place, particularly Hindutva. We are working to save that culture, BJP will march forward on it)

Som was named as an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots which are believed to have a lasting impact on 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Along with Som, senior party leader Sanjeev Balyan was also named in the riots.

Som’s announcement comes at a time when the Adityanath-led BJP government in the state has already renamed city of Allahabad to Prayagraj and is considering to rename Faizabad to Ayodhya. In Gujarat, CM Vijay Rupani has announced that the government may rename the iconic city of Ahmedabad to Karnavati.