In yet another spurt of name-change, Pratapgarh BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta has raised an old demand to rename Lucknow after Lakshman. The demand followed after the installation of a bronze statue of Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Ram, outside Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow on Tuesday.
In letters to PM Narendra Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gupta has written, "As per ancient belief, Lord Ram had gifted Lucknow to Lakshman ji and has since been named after him as ‘Lakhanpur’ or ‘Lakshmanpur’. But in the 18th century, the then-nawab Asaf-ud-Daula renamed it as Lucknow, and that’s how it is known since."
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He further added, "Now that the country has entered Amrit Kaal, this symbol of slavery needs to be done away with."
The bronze statue sculpted by Statue of Unity sculptor Ram Sutar has been installed at a roundabout outside the airport and is yet to be formally unveiled. It has been installed ahead of the visit of the G20 summit's delegates in Lucknow.
The demand for renaming the historic city of Lucknow after Lucknow MO and BJP veteran Lalji Tandon, in 2018, wrote in his book, 'Ankaha Lucknow' that the city was originally named ‘Lakshmanavati, then Lakshmanpur and Lakhnavati before becoming Lucknow.’
