Lucknow

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday criticised the previous Samajwadi Party government for changing the name of Jyotiba Phule Nagar district back to Amroha.

In a post on X, she said her government had taken several steps to honour leaders from the Extremely Backward Classes and OBC communities, including the creation of Jyotiba Phule Nagar district from Amroha. She alleged that the Samajwadi Party later changed the district’s name due to narrow political motives and caste-based bias.

Mayawati also recalled that during the BSP regime, Kasganj was renamed Kanshiram Nagar, Kanpur Dehat as Ramabai Nagar, Sambhal as Bhimnagar, Shamli as Prabuddha Nagar, and Hapur as Panchsheel Nagar. She claimed that the SP government reversed all these changes.

Calling the move unfortunate, she said it reflected the real character of the rival party’s politics.

Paying tribute to Jyotirao Phule on his birth anniversary, Mayawati described him as one of the greatest pioneers of social transformation in India. She said both Phule and Savitribai Phule made historic contributions to women’s empowerment through education.

She added that B. R. Ambedkar drew inspiration from Phule and later prioritised education as a tool of upliftment.

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Mayawati further said Phule’s efforts in the nineteenth century for the rights of Dalits and oppressed communities sparked a powerful social reform movement across Maharashtra, laying the foundation for women’s liberation and empowerment.