Accepting the demand of saints and others, the Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday announced to rechristen Allahabad to its old name Prayagraj.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister in Lucknow on Tuesday.

State government spokesperson and Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh told reporters that now all departments like Railways and others would be asked to change the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj in their records.

“It was the demand of saints and people of Allahabad to restore the historic name of the city and this demand has been accepted by the government ahead of Kumbh Mela scheduled next year,” he said.

“Rig Veda, Mahabharat and Ramayana also mention Prayagraj (for Allahabad),” he noted.

Earlier, Singh had also written to Governor Ram Naik to consider renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj. He had also ridiculed the opposition for resisting the renaming process.

“They are just doing politics but we have done it to honour the lost religious dignity of the old city which was once known as Prayagraj,” Singh added.

During his participation in Kumbh Margdarshak Mandal meeting at Allahabad with saints some time back, Yogi had assured to rechristen Allahabad as Prayagraj. The meeting was also attended by Governor Ram Naik, who had instantly given his nod.

Prayag was renamed as Allahabad by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1580 as he maintained that it was Allah’s place and hence coined its name.

“The wrong that the Mughal emperor did should be corrected. We expect that the Chief Minister will issue orders for changing the name of Allahabad as Prayagraj,” the saints had  advocated .

In 2001, after the Kumbh Mela, then Chief Minister Rajnath Singh and Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri had also favoured changing the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj but the promise remained unfulfilled.