Yogi government links comeback route to road renaming

The ruling BJP in UP is rechristening a number of roads in the run-up to the assembly polls. Roads have been named after famous personalities from the state - Chaudhary Charan Singh, Mahendra Singh Tikait and Sone Lal Patel.

As per the data of the state PWD ministry, 11 roads have been named after different personalities from the state. The recent ones include roads in the name of Chuadhary Charan Singh, Mahendra Singh Tikait and Dadi Chandro Tomar in Baghpat district. Jats are at the forefront of the farmer protests and the next generation leaders associated with Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait are leading the protests against the BJP government. By naming the roads after them, the party is trying to touch an emotional chord with the community and drive home the point that only under the BJP government these leaders can get their due.

A road has also been named after Sone Lal Patel, the founder of Apna Dal, in Prayagraj. Patel's daughter Anupriya Patel is a Union minister, and the party is in alliance with the BJP. In August, the government named a road in Prayagraj after former BJP MLA Rang Bahadur Patel. Both the leaders are respected by the Kurmi community which constitutes more than 7% of the state's population.


During the campaign for the by-election in Bangarmau last year, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had named a road after Maharaja Satan Pasi, a former ruler of Unnao and who is revered by the Pasi community. "These are great personalities who we haven't seen, but have read about in history books. The former governments had only focused on their families and a select few," KP Maurya, deputy CM of UP, told ET.

Roads are also being constructed in the name of personalities who passed away recently. Roads have been named after the late BJP leader Chetan Chauhan and Virendra Singh Sirohi. Maurya had announced that six roads would be named after former UP CM Kalyan Singh. Two of the six roads have already been named in Aligarh and Bulandshahr.