Telangana's lone BJP MLA and rabble-rouser Raja Singh said the city of Nizamabad should be renamed to 'Induru' if the party wins the city's municipality elections.
Raja Singh, who is no stranger to controversy and has earlier argued for Hyderabad to be renamed to 'Bhagyanagar', was addressing an election campaign rally by the BJP in Nizamabad, when he said, "BJP should win the Mayor post in Nizamabad to change its name to Induru. It's not possible if we don't win the Mayor post."
He further said, "Certain intellectuals may ask what we will get if we name it Induru. We should tell them that the name was earlier Induru but this 'faltu' (useless) Nizam came and changed it to Nizamabad."
Raja Singh was referring to Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad.
"Who is this Nizam? After India got Independence, in Nizam's regime for over one year in Telangana, Andhra, Maharashtra and Karnataka, they have committed atrocities on people," he alleged.
While expressing hope about the BJP winning 39 seats in the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation, he said "We will win for sure and we have confidence in our cadre. If they have money strength, we have cadre strength."
Raja Singh is not the first senior BJP leader to make this claim. At the event he was addressing, Nizamabad MP D Arvind was also present. Arvind had made a similar claim after the Lok Sabha polls last year.
In August 2019, Arvind had said, "We used to have a nice name in Induru. 'Ind' from India and 'Indu' from Hindustan was part of the name. Ever since we kept the Nizam's name, things have gone downhill."
Claiming that the name 'Nizam' was 'inauspicious,’ Arvind had said, "The Nizamsagar project has dried up, the Nizam Sugar Factory has been shut down and in Nizamabad, farmers are not getting benefits. If we want a good future, we must remove the name Nizamabad and replace it with Induru."
According to local history, the district was originally named Indrapura, during the reign of Rashtrakuta ruler Indra III in the 10th Century. However, it was renamed Nizamabad after Nizam Ul Mulk, the founder of the Asaf Jah dynasty, which eventually controlled Hyderabad state.
During the 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana, Raja Singh had demanded that Hyderabad should be renamed 'Bhagyanagar'.
At the time, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adithyanath, while campaigning in Hyderabad, urged the voters to give their party a chance in the state, saying, "If you want to see Hyderabad transform itself into Bhagyanagar, then you should give BJP a chance. While other parties are caught up in vote bank politics, the BJP is the only party that can fearlessly focus on good governance and development."
Raja Singh is known for making provocative statements and has been repeatedly booked by the police for hate speech and inciting communal violence.
The name 'Bhagyanagar' is derived from the legend of 'Bhagmati', said to be a woman dancer, with whom Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of Hyderabad in the 16th century, fell in love with.
Some have claimed that Hyderabad was named 'Bhagyanagar' after the dancer, and later renamed Hyderabad, as she married the king and converted to Islam, taking the name of 'Hyder Mahal'. However, historians often argue staunchly that this was not the case, as there is no evidence to suggest that such a queen existed in the city.