Lucknow, Nov 21 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh is in the grip of a renaming plague. It started with Allahabad, when it became Prayagraj, then Faizabad was renamed Ayodhya, recently Agra was said to be all set to be rechristened Agravan, now it appears to be Sultanpur's turn to be renamed as Kushpur or Kushbhawanpur, after Kush, the son of Lord Ram.
The Rajputana Shaurya Foundation, on Wednesday, met Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and placed their demand.
The Foundation had earlier met the then Governor Ram Naik in March and Naik had even sent a letter to the state government in this regard.
Arvind Singh Raja of the Foundation said: "Two district gazetteers from 1903 and 1982 refer to Sultanpur as Kushbhawanpur, Kushpur and Kushavati. It is believed that Kush, son of Lord Ram, founded this city on the banks of Gomti river and hence, we are demanding that its original name be restored."
The city has a bronze idol of Kush on Sitakund Ghat.
A book written by Rajeshwar Singh titled "Sultanpur-Itihas ki Jhalak" claims that when Lord Ram's kingdom was divided between his twins, the northern portion of the kingdom went to Luv while the southern portion went to Kush and extended till the river Sindhika (now Sai).
Last year, BJP MLA from Lambhua seat of Sultanpur, Deomani Dwiwedi had submitted a proposal for the name change.
"I have proposed that the Sultanpur be changed to its original name that was Kushpur or Kushbhawanpur. I have requested that the original name of the district be restored," he said.
The Sultanpur MLA said that 'Kushbhawanpur Day' is celebrated on August 26 each year since Independence. A rally is taken out every year to mark the occasion.
The Sultanpur Nagar Palika has already passed the proposal to restore the name to Kushbhawanpur at its level and has forwarded the proposal to the Nagar Panchayat Department as well.
According to sources, after Sultanpur, the next cities that may see a change of name are Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Ferozabad and Muzaffarnagar -- all with obvious Muslim names.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav had criticized the name changing spree of the Yogi government.
"Will this government do some work too instead of just changing names and claiming credit for work done by previous government?
"Raja Harshvardhan made 'Prayag Kumbh' great by offering donations, but today's rulers are trying to take credit for the work just by renaming the city to 'Prayagraj'. They will take away the ethos of Agra by renaming it. The city is known worldwide because of the Taj Mahal," said Akhilesh Yadav.
Former state minister and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party President Om Prakash Rajbhar criticised the move and said the party should instead change the names of its Muslim leaders before renaming different towns and places.
The ruling BJP has, however, justified the name changes across Uttar Pradesh, saying they are merely restoring older names and correcting historical distortions.