NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that Allahabad will soon be renamed as Prayagraj, Justice Markandey Katju has offered the Uttar Pradesh CM a list of more cities that can be renamed. Taking a jibe at the move, Katju said: "Congratulations for renaming Allahabad as Prayag. But surely that is not enough. I recommend the following further name changes of UP cities be made to eliminate names of these Babur ki Aulads altogether."


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Katju in his list suggested that Aligarh should be renamed as Ashwatthamanagar, Agra as Agastyanagar, Ghazipur as Ganeshpur and Shahjehanpur as Sugrivpur. In all, he gave a list of 18 UP cities and gave suggestions for new names for them. Two of the new names suggested by him are Narendramodipur for Faizabad, Amitshahnagar for Fatehpur and Mankibaatnagar for Moradabad.


He ended his note by writing: "And for this act of kindness the petitioner shall forever pray."



Adityanath had last week said that Allahabad will be renamed as Prayag Raj if there is consensus on the same. "Ganga aur Yamuna do pavitra nadi ka sangam ka sthal hone ke nate yahan sabhi prayago ka raaj hai, isiliye Allahabad ko Prayag raj bhi kehte hain (Two holy rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, join in Allahabad and hence there’s ‘raj’ of all ‘prayag’ (confluence of rivers). And therefore, Allahabad is also known as Prayag Raj)," the CM had said.


"It might be the wish of many people that Allahabad can be renamed as Prayagraj. I think that it will give a very good message. If everyone agrees, we should know this city as Prayag Raj and it can be a good start," he added.


As per some reports, banners for the upcoming Kumbh Mela in 2019 mention the name of the city as Prayagraj instead of Allahabad. The renaming might take place before the Kumbh Mela begins in Allahabad on January 15, 2019.