As per a notification issued by the Northern Railways on Tuesday, the names of eight railway stations in Uttar Pradesh have been changed. These stations fall under the Lucknow division of Northern Railways and have been renamed after freedom fighters and saints.The stations whose names have been changed are Kasimpur Halt, Jais, Misrauli, Bani, Nihalgarh, Akbarganj, Wazirganj Halt, and Fursatganj.
The changed names of the Lucknow division stations are as follows:
- Kasimpur halt will now be known as Jais City
- Jais as Guru Gorakhnath Dham
- Misrauli as Maa Kalikan Dham
- Bani as Swami Paramhans
- Nihalgarh as Maharaja Bijli Pasi
- Akbarganj as Maa Ahorwa Bhawani Dham
- Warisganj as Amar Shahid Bhale Sultan
- Fursatganj as Tapeshwarnath Dham
The stations were renamed after a demand was made by former Amethi MP Smriti Irani in a bid to preserve the cultural identity and heritage of the place. She had made the announcement regarding the change of names on social media in March this year.
Following the renaming of the stations, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state to not just change the names of railway stations but also address their conditions. He also took a jibe at the state government asking it to think about preventing railway accidents when it was free from changing names of railway stations.
“There is a request to the BJP government to change not just the names but also the conditions of the railway stations…And when you get free time from changing names, then take some time out and think about preventing record-breaking railway accidents,” Yadav stated in a post on X.
भाजपा सरकार से आग्रह है कि रेलवे स्टेशनों के सिर्फ़ ‘नाम’ नहीं, हालात भी बदलें।
… और जब नाम बदलने से फ़ुरसत मिल जाएं तो रिकार्ड कायम करते रेल-एक्सीडेंट्स के हादसों के रोकथाम के लिए भी कुछ समय निकालकर विचार करें।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 27, 2024
