After minister Dharm Singh Saini demanding Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to rename Sheikhul Hind Maulana Abdul Hasan Medical College at Saharanpur after an iconic personality, BJP MLA from Haraiya Assembly segment (Basti) Ajay Kumar Singh wrote to the Chief Minister urging him to rename the district as Vashishth Nagar. “Basti is the corrupt and mispronounced version of ‘Vashishtha Nagar’. The latter is authentic due to its presence in ancient Vedic texts. Keeping the historical, spiritual and Vedic importance of Basti, it is necessary to change its name to Vashishtha Nagar,” said Singh in his letter addressed to Yogi Adityanath.
The MLA requested the CM to issue direction to officials for initiating the legal process for renaming the district. “It is true that Basti was named after ancient Hindu sage Vashishth Muni and that is why I have requested the Chief Minister to change the name. There are many things which are not mentioned in history yet we believe them,” said Singh. Basti was carved out as a district in late 19th century during British Raaj. Prior to this, it was a village named after Vaishishthi — Ashram of Vashishtha Muni where Ram and Laxman are believed to have spent some time during their exile.