Opening a new front with the Congress, the Mayawati government on Thursday created a new district named after Dalit icon Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj that would include Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.
"The state cabinet in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mayawati has decided to restore district status to Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar. It also decided to rename Kanpur Dehat as Ramabai Nagar district," an official spokesman said in Lucknow.
The then Bahujan Samaj Party government had on December 17, 2002, accorded district status to Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, then represented by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and renamed it as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.
However, the decision was scrapped by the Samajwadi Party's government. On October 7, 2003, the state cabinet revoked the notification regarding renaming of Amethi as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.