Should Aligarh be called Harigarh? Municipal body approves plan for name change

The name of another Uttar Pradesh city, Aligarh, is probably going to change shortly, after Allahabad and Faizabad. Aligarh Mayor Prashant Singhal said on Tuesday that the Aligarh Municipal Corporation has approved a proposal to rename the city and that it will now be sent to the government of Uttar Pradesh.

An idea to rename Aligarh as Harigarh was put up at a meeting yesterday. The council members all agreed to support this. The administration will now get this suggestion. I’m hoping that the government will notice this and accede to our request to rename Aligarh as Harigarh.The news outlet ANI cited the mayor of Aligarh as stating, “This demand has been raised for a long time.”

The Yogi Adityanath administration would now bear the responsibility; should it approve the proposed name change, Aligarh will henceforth be referred to as Harigarh. But the Union Home Ministry’s clearance is also required. If it is approved, Aligarh would become the most recent city in Uttar Pradesh to have its name changed.

Mughal Sarai was renamed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar earlier in 2018, and Allahabad was renamed Prayagraj a year later. The district of Faizabad has also been renamed Ayodhya by the Yogi administration.

Any place within the state may have its name changed by the state government in accordance with the regulations. A consensus proposal must be approved by the local body before it can be sent to the state government. It is subsequently sent to the Union Home Ministry for clearance if the state government concurs as well. The state administration may formally alter the name after receiving consent from the home ministry.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a hint in 2019 when the name of Allahabad was altered, indicating that his administration will continue to rename locations around the state.

We took action because it seemed right. We renamed the districts of Faizabad as Ayodhya, Allahabad as Prayagraj, and Mughal Sarai as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Nagar. The administration would take the necessary action where it is needed, Yogi Adityanath has said.