Lucknow to be renamed as Laxmanpuri? UP CM Yogi Adityanath's tweet sparks rumours

After Ayodhya and Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh government is back on the name-changing spree, and this time, Lucknow appears to be next on the list. A recent tweet by UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath has sparked off speculations that the name of the state capital may soon be changed.

In the tweet welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lucknow on Monday evening, Yogi Adityanath wrote: "Warm welcome and greetings to you in the holy city of Sheshavatar Lord Shri Laxman, Lucknow."

Since then, there has been a buzz in political circles as well as on social media about a possible plan to rename Lucknow as 'Laxmanpuri'. A grand temple dedicated to Lord Laxman, the brother of Lord Ram is already being constructed in the city. 

A long-pending demand of BJP leaders

The demand to rename Lucknow as Lakhanpuri or Laxmanpuri has been raised several times by BJP leaders. The capital already has several landmarks named after Lord Laxman including the Laxman Tila, Laxmanpuri, and Laxman Park.

Known for rechristening famous cities, the Yogi Adityanath government in its previous term had changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya. Following this, there was a surge in demand for changing the names of many districts such as Sultanpur to Kushbhawanpur, Aligarh to Harigarh, Mainpuri to Mayanpuri, Sambhal to Prithviraj Nagar or Kalki Nagar, Firozabad to Chandranagar and Deoband to Devrand.

Meanwhile, officials say that they are not yet aware of any proposal to rename Lucknow or any other city.