Lucknow to be Renamed 'Laxmanpur'? Here's What Union Home Minister Amit Shah Says

Renamin Lucknow as Laxmanpur? Amit Shah stated that BJP does not want to remove anybody's contribution to history, including that of the Mughals. He, however, defended the renaming spree in BJP-ruled states and said that several old Indin cities had Indian names before they were renamed by the Mughals.

NEW DELHI: Amid growing demands to rename the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow as 'Laxmanpur', Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the BJP does not want to erase the contribution of Mughal Emperors to India's history, growth, and cultural prosperity. Responding to a question on the Mughal legacy and the attempts being made to erase it completely, the Union Home Minister categorically rejected those allegations.

He stated that BJP does not want to remove anybody's contribution to history, including that of the Mughals. He, however, defended the renaming spree in BJP-ruled states and said that several old Indin cities had Indian names before they were renamed by the Mughals.

Shah also said that not a single city that previously did not have an old name has been changed. “If someone wants to establish the tradition of the country then no one should have any objection,” he replied when asked to reason for some name changes.  “We have not changed the name of even a single city that previously did not have an old name. Our governments have taken well-thought-out decisions. Every government has its statutory rights,” Shah added. 

Union Home Ministr's statement came just days after UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak appealed to change the name of Lucknow as it is "well known as the city of Laxman." 

After this, BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to rename UP's capital city of Lucknow as "Lakhanpur" or "Laxmanpur." Reacting sharply to allegations of wiping out the history of Mughals and changing the names of cities associated with them, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the BJP state governments have taken “well-thought decisions” which are within their statutory rights. 

Driving his point, BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta claimed that the city was earlier named as Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur in the Treta Yug. Later, Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula renamed it Lucknow.

Shah, when asked about the allegations of writing a “re-imagined history” of Jammu and Kashmir, and erasing former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s contributions, held out that Article 370 was included in the Constitution by the government of the first PM of the country and this had caused great loss to India.