New Delhi, December 9: In the year 2018, India witnessed a lot of change - both positive and negative. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government may not have succeeded in changing the lives of millions of ordinary citizens, but it did change the name of several places. The Modi government approved the renaming of at least 25 towns and villages across India in the past one year, and several similar proposals are pending before it.

The recent in the list of places that were rechristened are Allahabad and Faizabad cities in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led state government has changed the names of Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya. Post this, demands to change the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati, Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar and Agra to Agrawal have gained momentum. Allahabad Becomes Prayagraj: Know the History Behind the Name.

Some of the approved name change proposals are: Rajahmundry as Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh; Outer Wheeler as A P J Abdul Kalam Island, situated in Bhadrak district of Odisha; Arikkod as Areekode in Malappura district of Kerala; Pindari as Pandu-Pindara in Jind district of Haryana; and Samphur as Sanphure in Kiphire district of Nagaland. Justice Markandey Katju Asks Yogi Adityanath to Rename Other Mughal-Era Cities as Well, Submits List.

Several proposals, including the renaming of West Bengal as 'Bangla', are pending with the central government. Other renaming proposals approved by the ministry include Landgewadi to Narsinhagaon in Sangali district of Maharashtra; Garhi Sampla as Ch. Sir Chhotu Ram Nagar in Rohtak district of Haryana; Khatu Kalan village as Bari Khatu in Nagour district of Rajasthan; Mihgawan Chhakka and Mihgawan Tilia as Mihgawan Sarkar and Mihgawan Ghat respectively in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh and Shukratal Khadar as Sukhtirth Khadar and Shukratal Bangar as Sukhtirth Bangar in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh.

During the four years of the Modi government, several places got a new name. Gurgaon became Gurugram in Haryana, Mughalsarai Junction in Uttar Pradesh became Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction and Mumbai's Elphinstone Road station was renamed as Prabhadevi. The name-change spree raises larger questions: What's in a name? A lot, actually. While the Congress erased British names, the Modi government seems uncomfortable with names linked to Muslims.

The BJP seems obsessed with changing any historic city name that sounds "Muslim". Just ahead of assembly elections in Rajasthan, the BJP government renamed two villages - Miyan Ka Bara village in Barmer district became Mahesh Nagar and Ismailpur village, in Jhunjhunu district, became Pichanwa Khurd. During the election campaign in Telangana, BJP MLA Raja Singh and party's star campaigner Yogi Adityanath promised to change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar if the BJP comes to power.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2018 01:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).