Deputy CM of Gujarat Nitin Patel on Tuesday batted for renaming Ahmedabad as ‘Karnavati’. Speaking with media persons on Tuesday, he said people’s sentiments were attached with the name ‘Karnavati’, and the decision to rename the city would be taken at the right time.
It is noteworthy that renaming Ahmedabad has been part of the poll agenda of the BJP in Gujarat in the past, before it came to power. After the party came to power in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and even formed the state government too, the poll promise remained unfulfilled. In March, CM Vijay Rupani had spoken in favour of renaming Ahmedabad as Karnavati when he was visiting his hometown Rajkot.
The party, however, mentions Ahmedabad as Karnavati in their internal correspondence but the name has not been changed officially by the government. The BJP had proposed to change the name of the city twice in the past, first in 1990 and then again 2001. They had also demanded that Allahabad be renamed as Prayag but the governments at the time had shot down the proposals.
Now, the Gujarat Dy CM has stirred the hornet’s nest again. “People’s sentiments are for the name Karnavati,” Patel said. “It was evident in feelings of people of Ahmedabad before and now too. There are several legal bindings but proper decision will be taken at the right time.