Protesting against renaming of Mughalsarai station, opposition MPs say 'change nation's name'

Mughalsarai Station to be renamed, (Image by Flickr user Hyougushi, CC-BY-SA)

The central government’s nod to the Yogi Adityanath’s request to rename Mughalsarai railway station after Deen Dayal Upadhyay did not go well with opposition MPs in the parliament.

Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal raised strong objection to the change in the name of one of India’s oldest railway stations, reported NDTV.

"The government to forcibly change Uttar Pradesh's geography. The station is ages old. There are going to change New Delhi's name too," the report quoted Agrawal.

Naresh Agrawal and other SP members rushed to the centre of the house and started sloganeering which forced Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the house.  Members of Bahujan Samajwadi Party also joined their rivals and shouted slogans.

The Mughalsarai station is one of the busiest junction in the country and was set up in 1862 when the East India Company linked Howrah to Delhi by rail.

Agrawal accused the ruling BJP government of “[changing] the character of the country.” His companions from SP said that roads and monuments are being named after people "who have made no contribution to the freedom struggle."

"They want stations in the name of Mughals, but not Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. This view is wrong," replied Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

During the debate, MPs also shouted, “Change the nation's name then... What was his (Deen Dayal Upadhyay's) contribution to the nation?" as per the report.

Naqvi advised the MPs to "read history."

(Image by Flickr user Hyougushi, CC-BY-SA)