Union Minister Bhupender Yadav defends renaming Khairthal-Tijara district; calls Congress 'anti-Ram'

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has strongly defended the Rajasthan government approving a proposal to rename Khairthal-Tijara district as Bhartrihari Nagar and alleged that the Congress was opposing the move out of its "anti-Ram" mindset. Following the chief minister's approval, the proposal will be sent to the cabinet for its nod. Once it is done, a notification for the name change of the district will be issued. Yadav, a BJP MP from the Alwar Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, alleged that those protesting the state government's move were the same people who had opposed the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and supported the Babri mosque. "It was their (Congress') government which, in an affidavit before the Supreme Court, denied the very existence of Lord Ram. The same people are now set on insulting Lokdevta Baba Bhartrihari," he told reporters.

The union environment minister said that Baba Bhartrihari is revered by people widely, and they are not the supporters of the opposition party. "Plays are staged every night for a month in reverence of Baba Bhartrihari. Lakhs of people draw inspiration from His place of penance, and there is hardly a home in the district where a community feast is not organised in His name," Yadav said. Terming the district "the land of yoga and penance", he praised Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma for giving his nod to rename the district after the folk deity. Yadav also claimed that Bhartrihari Nagar has the potential to emerge as the country's top district in the manufacturing sector. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a self-reliant India will be realised here. With the capacity that Bhiwadi and Khairthal have, Bhartrihari Nagar can become India's number one manufacturing district," he added.