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Ahead of civic elections, parties accuse BJP of ‘divisive politics’ over ‘Hindu’ ward names
This alleged “saffronisation” of ward names has been done to sway votes, according to the opponents of BJP in the city.
GORAKHPUR: Following the state government’s approval to changing of ward names in Gorakhpur, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come under fire over its alleged attempt to “polarise” voters in the run-up to the municipal corporation elections in the city.
Recently, Amrit Abhijat, the secretary of urban development, approved the new names of several wards in Gorakhpur. As his order came into effect, Alinagar became Arya Nagar and Rustampur Crossing turned into Chandra Shekhar Azad crossing. Similar changes have been made to the names of some other wards as well.
This alleged “saffronisation” of ward names has been done to sway votes, according to the opponents of BJP in the city. Speaking on the issue, Awdesh Yadav, district unit president of Samajwadi Party, said, “The decision to change names just ahead of local body elections shows the divisive policy of the state government.”
In a similar vein, senior congress leader Tauqeer Alam slammed the state government’s decision while adding that their election gimmick of changing ward names wouldn’t succeed.
Meanwhile, Jitendra Nirmal, the district unit president of Bahujan Samaj Party, has pointed out that none of the wards have been named after Dalit leaders. “The Dalit community has been neglected while changing names of the wards. This will be a major poll issue.”
Separately, the state government has included 32 new villages in the Gorakhpur municipal corporation. With this, the count of wards in the city has risen from 70 to 80.
