UP govt renames Faizabad rly station to Ayodhya Cantt

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to rename the Faizabad railway station, a tweet by the office of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday.

It will be called the Ayodhya Cantt railway station, the tweet said, adding that the decision was taken by the chief minister.

In another tweet, the CM's office said the Centre too has granted its consent to the decision and Adityanath has given green signal to issue a notification in this regard.

Earlier in 2018, the Yogi Adityanath government had renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government had also changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj and Mughalsarai railway junction as Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay junction.

Meanwhile, the opposition dubbed the move as an attempt to "play with Hindu sentiments" for political benefits.

The chief minister, however, justified renaming, saying it is part of efforts to "restore the rich historical and cultural identity" of the place.

Opened in 1874, the Faizabad railway station comes under the Northern Railway zone. It falls under the Lucknow-Varanasi section.