UP minister calls for renaming Agra's Shahjahan Garden after Ahilyabai Holkar

Shahjahan Garden is a Mughal-era green space between the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in the Agra district.

Uttar Pradesh minister Baby Rani Maurya has urged Shahjahan Garden in Agra be renamed after the Malwa Kingdom queen Ahilyabai Holkar.

The Women Welfare Minister made the urge in a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Yes, I wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji on the issue and my proposal to name the Shahjahan Garden after progressive queen Ahilyabai Holkar who did a lot for women's empowerment. It would soon be a reality as our governments have always promoted women's empowerment," Maurya told PTI.

Shahjahan Garden is a Mughal-era green space between the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in the Agra district.

Maurya said she "strongly identified" with Ahilyabai Holkar and has at her heart the issue of women's empowerment.

"So I feel that the renaming of this garden that draws people from across the globe would inspire the masses, women in particular … there is nothing wrong in such renaming," the Agra Dehat MLA said.

Maurya said instructions have been issued to look into the Shahjahan Garden renaming.

Over the years, UP has seen a litany of similar demands, involving invariably a Mughal-era nomenclature for replacement.

On March 29, posters demanding renaming Muzaffarnagar to 'Laxminagar' came up in the western UP district.

Calls have been made to rename Aligarh as Harigarh, Mainpuri as Mayanpuri, Sambhal as Prithviraj Nagar or Kalki Nagar, Sultanpur as Kushbhavanpur, and Ghazipur to Gadhipuri.

The opposition parties have decried these moves as tactics to divert people's attention from pressing issues.

The UP government has already renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj, and Faizabad as Ayodhya.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Sharvendra Bikaram Singh said it has become a "fashion" among BJP leaders to make such demands.

"Its leaders make such demands because the BJP has failed. The government should instead focus on the real development issues that can benefit the common man," Singh said.