BSP Supremo Mayawati criticises name change of Uttarakhand villages, says govt "trying to cover up their failures"

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 2 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati on Tuesday criticized the decision of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Uttarakhand government to change the names of 11 places in various districts of the state, accusing them of "covering up their failures on the basis of hatred and discrimination."
The BSP Supremo hit out at the BJP and Samajwadi Party (SP) alike, highlighting the name changes of various places done by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh government too.
"Like the SP government of UP, the tendency of BJP governments of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and UP to change the names of districts, cities and institutions etc. is not governance of the rule of law but a very worrying narrow politics to cover up their failures on the basis of hatred and discrimination," read Mayawati's post on X.

1. यूपी की रही सपा सरकार की तरह ही महाराष्ट्र, उत्तराखण्ड व यूपी आदि भाजपा सरकार द्वारा जिला, शहरों व संस्थानों आदि के नामों को बदलने की प्रवृति कानून के राज का गवरनेन्स नहीं बल्कि द्वेष व भेदभाव के आधार पर अपनी विफलताओं पर पर्दा डालने की अति चिन्तनीय संकीर्ण राजनीति।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) April 1, 2025

Contrasting it with the BSP-led governance of undivided Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati said that the party kept "good governance in mind," by implementing various schemes across districts and did not change any names of places.
"While BSP was in power for four terms from 1995 in undivided Uttar Pradesh to 2012, keeping good governance in mind, many new welfare schemes and districts, tehsils, hospitals, universities etc. were created with new names, no names were changed. Governments should definitely learn from this," her post added.
Earlier on Monday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced the renaming of certain places in Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital, and Udham Singh Nagar districts of the state.
Speaking to ANI, the CM said, "The names of the locations should be according to the culture, sentiments of local people, and Devbhoomi. The people have welcomed this step."
This initiative aims to inspire people by honouring great personalities who have contributed to the preservation of Indian culture, according to an official statement.
In the Haridwar district, Aurangzebpur will be renamed Shivaji Nagar, Gajiwali to Arya Nagar, Chandpur to Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Mohammadpur Jat to Mohanpur Jat, Khanpur Kursli to Ambedkar Nagar, Indrishpur to Nandpur, Khanpur to Shri Krishna Pur, and Akbarpur Fazalpur to Vijayanagar, as per CM Pushkar Singh Dhami's announcement.
Dehradun's Miyanwala will be renamed Ramji Wala, Pirwala to Kesari Nagar, Chandpur Khurd to Prithviraj Nagar, and Abdullah Nagar to Daksh Nagar, the announcement further added. In Nainital, Nawabi Road will be renamed Atal Marg, and the road from Panchakki to ITI will be named Guru Golwalkar Marg, the announcement said. (ANI)