Uttar%20Pradesh%20chief%20minister%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20happens%20to%20be%20the%20only%20chief%20minister%20of%20a%20state%20to%20be%20campaigning%20for%20the%20Bharatiya%20Janata%20Party%20%28BJP%29%26nbsp%3Bin%20far%20away%20Hyderabad%2C%20for%20the%20city%27s%20civic%20polls.

%26nbsp%3B

%26nbsp%3BSticking%20to%20his%20old%20habit%20of%20playing%20the%20politics%20of%20polarization%20%2C%20he%20was%20at%20his%20divisive%20best%20when%20he%20went%20to%20the%20extent%20of%20giving%20a%20call%20for%20changing%20the%20name%20of%20Hyderabad%20to%20Bhagyanagar.%20He%20even%20sought%20to%20give%20the%20impression%20that%20Hyderabad%20was%20originally%20named%20%u2018Bhagyanagar%u2019%20.

%26nbsp%3B

However%2C%26nbsp%3Bleading%20historians%20who%20had%20gone%20deep%20into%20the%20background%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3Bof%20the%20famous%20city%20were%20clearly%20of%20the%20view%20that%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3Bthere%20was%20no%20truth%20in%20the%20%u201CBhagyanagar%u201D%20story%20%2C%20which%20was%20simply%20being%20raked%20up%20for%20political%20reasons.

%26nbsp%3B

Interestingly%2C%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20went%20about%20claiming%20during%20his%20campaign%20in%20Hyderabad%2C%20%u201CI%20changed%20the%20name%20of%20towns%20like%20Faizabad%20to%20Ayodhya%20and%20Allahabad%20to%20Prayagraj%20%2C%20soon%20after%20BJP%20came%20to%20power%20in%20UP.%20Why%20can%27t%20this%20be%20done%20in%20Hyderabad%3F%u201D

%26nbsp%3B

%26nbsp%3BWhat%20he%20cleverly%20avoided%20mentioning%20was%20the%20fact%20that%20Faizabad%20or%20Allahabad%20stories%20were%20incomparable%20with%20the%20cooked-up%20story%20about%20Hyderabad%u2019s%20original%20name%20being%20Bhagyanagar.The%20fact%20remains%20that%20Ayodhya%20existed%20from%20ancient%20times%20and%20continued%20to%20be%20called%20by%20that%20very%20name%20all%20along.%20Faizabad%20was%20a%20twin%20city%20founded%20in%20neighbourhood%20of%20Ayodhya%20by%20the%20first%20Nawab%20of%20Awadh%20Saadat%20Ali%20Khan%2C%20who%20never%20sought%20to%20alter%20the%20name%20of%20the%20ancient%20Hindu%20town%20of%20Ayodhya.It%20was%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20who%20decided%20to%20completely%20do%20away%20with%20the%20name%20of%20Faizabad%20%2C%20and%20replace%20it%20with%20Ayodhya.

Likewise%2C%20the%20original%20town%20of%20%27Prayag%u2019%20which%20came%20up%20in%20ancient%20times%20on%20the%20banks%20of%20the%20holy%20Sangam%20%28the%20confluence%20of%20the%20three%20famous%20rivers%20-%20Ganga%2CYamuna%20and%20the%20mythical%20Saraswati%29%20always%20remained%20as%20such.%20No%20Muslim%20ruler%20ever%20made%20any%20attempt%20to%20change%20the%20name%20of%20Prayag%20.%26nbsp%3B

Mughal%20emperor%20Akbar%20decided%20to%20build%20a%20new%20city%20in%20the%20neighbourhood%20of%20Prayag%20and%20named%20it%20%u2018Ilah-baas%u2019%20%28abode%20of%20the%20divine%29%2C%20which%20was%20changed%20by%20Shah%20Jahan%20to%20Illahabad%20and%20still%20later%2C%26nbsp%3Bgot%20anglicised%20during%20the%20British%20rule%20to%20Allahabad.%20According%20to%20historians%20at%20the%20Allahabad%20university%2C%20the%20name%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%u2018Ilah%20%u2013%20baas%u2019%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3Breflects%20the%20secular%20thinking%20of%20the%20times.%20Interestingly%2C%20%u2018Ilah%u2019%20in%20Arabic%20meant%20divine%20and%20%u2018Ila%u2019%20in%20Hindi%20too%20means%20the%20same%2C%20and%20%u2018baas%u2019%20or%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%u2018baad%u2019%20meant%20abode.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

Sure%20enough%2C%20when%20the%20renaming%20of%20the%20two%20UP%20towns%20was%20done%20by%20Yogi%20%2C%20he%20was%20serving%20his%20prime%20agenda%20of%20religious%20polarization.%20It%20may%20be%20pertinent%20to%20mention%20here%20that%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20also%20changed%20the%20name%20of%20Mughal%20Serai%20%2C%20that%20was%20re-named%20as%20Deen%20Dayal%20Upadhaya%20Nagar%20near%20Varanasi%20on%20the%20UP-Bihar%20border.

Even%20before%20he%20became%20chief%20minister%2C%20as%20a%20member%20of%20parliament%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20got%20certain%20localities%20in%20his%20constituency%2C%20Gorakhpur%2C%20renamed%20.%20The%20whole%20idea%20was%20to%20do%20away%20with%20Islamic%20names%20and%20replace%20them%20with%20Hindu%20ones.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3BThus%20Humayunpur%20was%20renamed%20Hanumanpur%20%2C%20Mia%20Bazar%20was%20re-christened%20as%20Maya%20Bazar%2C%20Ali%20Nagar%20was%20renamed%20Arya%20Nagar%20%2Cwhile%20Urdu%20Bazar%20became%20Hindi%20Bazar.

Whether%20his%20obvious%20attempt%20to%20forge%20a%20communal%20divide%20in%20Hyderabad%20civil%20election%20would%20play%20political%20dividends%2C%20only%20time%20would%20tell.

%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Hyderabad%22%20data-user-id%3D%22lYq26cmS2qLQ%22%20href%3D%22/topic/hyderabad%22%3E%23Hyderabad%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Elections%22%20data-user-id%3D%223Cfx7PQDJJJQ%22%20href%3D%22/topic/elections%22%3E%23Elections%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23YogiAdityanath%22%20data-user-id%3D%22leobAMdwHc03%22%20href%3D%22/topic/yogi-adityanath%22%3E%23YogiAdityanath%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Ayodhya%22%20data-user-id%3D%22NWBmyg0fd2YY%22%20href%3D%22/topic/ayodhya%22%3E%23Ayodhya%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B