Many sign off on Pataliputra

PATNA: The debate which began only last fortnight following railway minister Lalu Prasad's demand to rename Patna as Azimabad and Pataliputra Jagaran Abhiyan Samiti stepping up its campaign to rename it as Pataliputra, gained momentum on Saturday. The Pataliputra Jagaran Abhiyan Samiti on Saturday launched a "signature campaign", here at the Kargil Chowk to strengthen its demand for renaming Patna as Pataliputra. Thousands of people including college students, housewives, politicians and intelligentsia put their signatures in favour of the movement. Inaugurating the campaign, former Union minister and Tripura governor Siddeshwar Prasad said, "Keeping the rich cultural heritage and glorious history of Pataliputra in view, the Pataliputra Jagaran Abhiyan Samiti demand to rename Patna as Pataliputra is justified. The issue is unnecessarily being politicised. I request chief minister Nitish Kumar to take up the re-naming issue and do the needful." Former PU vice chancellor SNP Sinha, PMC deputy mayor Santosh Kumar Mehta, state JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Verma, state BJP spokesperson Sanjay Mayukh,Sanskar Bharti president Jitendra Sahay and state INTUC president Chandra Prakash Singh also urged the state government to initiate steps for renaming Patna. The former PU VC, addressing the crowd, said, "Though renaming will not help in developing the state immediately, the very name Pataliputra will definitely inspire the present generation to work for the state's progress." Bihar Riyasati Anjuman Itehadul Musalmin president Mumtaz Ahmad Khan urging the people to support the movement for Patna's renaming said the people should keep away from communal elements. Pataliputra Jagaran Abhiyan Samiti president Anil Sulabh said, "The demand to rename Patna was first raised about 21 years ago, when Bombay was not renamed Mumbai, Calcutta had not become Kolkata and Madras was not Chennai. About one lakh people had raised this issue under the leadership of J&K governor Gen S K Sinha." Reacting to chief minister Nitish Kumar's argument in one his Janata Durbars held recently that the issue of renaming Patna was not in his priority list, Sulabh said, "Devlopment is a continuing process whereas once the city is renamed, the state is bound to develop."