'Useless talks': Nitish Kumar refuses BJP's demand to rename his birthplace Bakhtiyarpur

Rubbishing BJP's demand to rename his birthplace 'Bakhtiyarpur', Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Monday, said that no such thing will be done. Addressing the media at a  ‘janata darbar’, Nitish Kumar said, "What rubbish! Why would we change the name of Bakhtiyarpur? It is my birthplace. These are all useless talks", when asked by a reporter about renaming the place. 

Nitish rubbishes renaming 'Bakhtiyarpur'

He added, "When the Act on Nalanda University was tabled in Parliament, an MP had said the destroyer of the university had stationed his camp in Bakhtiyarpur. Now, a man born in the same place is rebuilding Nalanda University”. As per reports, BJP MP Gopal Narayan Singh had raised the renaming issue in the Rajya Sabha in 2019.

The CM's brusque comment was in response to BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur Bachol's demand that the district's name be renamed, as it was named after the Mughal ruler Bakhtiyar Khilji who had burnt Nalanda university and its library containing 90 lakh books. Calling it a shame to the famous university, Bachol said that it was wrong to name a place by the name of a looter, as per reports. Instead, he suggested, that the place be named 'Nitish nagar' as it is the birthplace of Bihar's longest-serving CM - Nitish Kumar. The 70-year CM was born and raised in Bakhtiyarpur - which is 50 km away from Patna.

"Since Bakhtiyarpur is the birthplace of the CM, it must be renamed as ‘Nitish Nagar’. Bakhtiyarpur is named after Bakhtiyar Khilji - the military general of Qutb-ud-Din-Aibak - who destroyed the famed Nalanda University. Khilji was a robber, therefore, name of the city must be changed," said Bachol. Previously, BJP MP Gopal Narayan Singh had suggested that the place be renamed after Nalanda or Rajgir.

As per reports, in 2019, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad-backed body Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti wrote to CM Nitish Kumar seeking to change the name of Bakhtiyarpur. They wrote, "It is time to undo the sins of the past by renaming the town and the railway station”. This later was written immediately after Allahabad was renamed Prayagraj and Faizabad was renamed as Ayodhya. The body said the town should be renamed after Chanakya, Shilbhadra, or the ‘Indrapushkarni’ lake.