Now UP wants to see Lucknow as 'Lakshmanpuri'

Lucknow: "Sheshavatar Bhagwan Laxman ki pawan nagri Lucknow mein aapka swagat aur abhinandan (Welcome to the holy city of Lord Laxman)," the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lucknow.

In the very mentioning of Lord Laxman for Lucknow, many feels, there hides a renaming proposal for the place as did several places in his first tenure as CM. It is, however, not just a renaming is under consideration but a statute of Laxman is also said to be on the cards for the government, as reported by The Indian Express.

The theory of Lucknow within the Right Wing quarters is that Lucknow is an attenuated version of Laxman, which is considered to be the original name of the city. With the CM's explicit mentioning, many BJP leaders believe that their long demand for Lucknow to be renamed 'Lakshmanpuri' will be realised.

The Yogi's indication is believed to have been made in the backdrop of Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatiya's announcement of erecting a 151-feet-tall Laxman statue along the Gomti River.

The Mayor also said that the administration wants to restore the glory of Laxmanpuri", as a gateway to Ayodhya, the city of Ram, by setting up a statue. She said that the corporation has already allotted a Rs 15 crore for the statue and is longing for more funds to facilitate a grand base.

Responding to the UP government's renaming proposal, the Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary said it was not surprising that the BJP government's priority is renaming places rather than future schemes for the poor, deprived or unemployed.