Mughalsarai renamed Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Kejriwal takes dig at BJP

The over-a-century old Mughalsarai railway station has been renamed after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, with Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik giving his assent.

The central government had last year cleared UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's request to rename the station, despite protests raised in parliament by various parties.

A notification for this was issued by the state government yesterday, an official spokesman said today.

The state government had in June last year decided to rename Mughalsarai Junction in Chandauli district after Upadhyaya, who was found dead near the station in mysterious circumstances in 1968.

The Centre gave its in-principal approval for renaming the station, among the busiest in the country, last year. The move drew flak from opposition parties which accused the ruling party of attempting to tamper with history.

The Aam Aadmi Party was quick to criticise the move after the stations renaming was announced today.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, tweeted in Hindi, "If you vote BJP, then names of cities and stations will change. If you vote AAP, then the future of your children will change."

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan also took a dig at Yogi Adityanath. "Who says that the Yogi government isn't working? Amidst all the heavy work done to provide oxygen to children at Gorakhpur Hospital, beating up people for Cows, & battering women thru Romeo squads, Yogi still got time to change the name of Mughalsarai Jn to Pandit Deendayal Jn!," Bhushan tweeted.

The station was built during colonial rule and was a major stop on the Delhi-Howrah route.