Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. (File)
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday said the Gujarat government is looking into the legal aspects to take concrete steps in renaming Ahmedabad as Karnavati. “We are contemplating changing the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati, the talks of which have been going on since a long time. Concrete steps will be taken after looking at it from legal and all other angles. We will think about it in the time to come,” Rupani told news agency ANI after offering prayers at Panchdev temple in Gandhinagar on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.
Taking a cue from Uttar Pradesh government which has renamed Allahabad and Faizabad as Prayagaraj and Ayodhya respectively, the Gujarat government on Tuesday had expressed its interest in renaming Ahmedabad as Karnavati if there are no legal hurdles. Responding to a reporter’s query on the demand for changing the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had said: “People’s feelings are there, and were there earlier also, to change the name to Karnavati. We are always ready to do that if we get enough support to overcome legal hurdles. Karnavati has been in use in numerous ways and people are used to it. People of Gujarat and people of Amdavad like the name. So, it can always be considered.”
State unit Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi slammed the BJP over the issue and said the promise to rename Ahmedabad was just another “poll gimmick” by the ruling party. “For the BJP, issues like construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and renaming Ahmedabad as Karnavati are the means to get votes of Hindus,” Doshi had said.
“BJP leaders dump such issues after coming to power. They only cheated Hindus all these years,” he added.
Historically, the area around Ahmedabad has been inhabited since the 11th century, when it was known as Ashaval. Chaulukya ruler Karna of Anhilwara (modern Patan) had waged a successful war against the Bhil king of Ashaval and established a city called Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati river. Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411 A.D. had laid the foundation of a new walled city near Karnavati and named it Ahmedabad after the four saints in the area by the name Ahmed.