VARANASI: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said now this carpet city’s new identity is Sant Ravidas Nagar Bhadohi.“On the occasion of Guru Purnima, we had said that Bhadohi district, famous for its carpet industry, would in the coming time be known by the name of Satguru Ravidas Ji Maharaj, the medieval saint who united society,” Yogi said while adressing a public meeting at Bhikharipur Abhayanpur in Bhadohi after laying the foundation stone and inaugurating 112 projects worth Rs 1,340 crore. These include the inauguration of 65 projects worth Rs 440.84 crore and the foundation laying of 47 projects worth Rs 899.27 crore.He said Sant Ravidas Ji Maharaj had envisioned an ideal society through his words: “I desire such a kingdom where everyone gets food, where the small and the big live equally, and Raidas remains happy.”“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 80 crore people in the country are receiving the benefit of free ration and many benefits. In this context naming the district Sant Ravidas Nagar Bhadohi is appropriate”, said Yogi.In 1994, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government created Bhadohi district by separating its area from Varanasi district.A political tug-of-war started with its name started in 1997 when after coming to power Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati renamed the district as Sant Ravidas Nagar.However, as the carpet industrialists and exporters had concernes for the identity crisis of theoir product, which had a brand name as Bhadohi carpet, BJP chief minister late Ram Prakash Gupta in 1999 took note of it changed the name of district to Sant Ravidas Nagar Bhadohi.It hurt Samajwadi Party and after returning to power in 2012, Akhilesh Yadav government restored the district’s name to Bhadohi in 2014 again.But, when the BJP, which focussed on developing 15th century poetic saint and Dalit icon Sant Ravidas at Seer Gowardhanpur in Varanasi, intensified its Dalit outreach programme especially after SP’s formula of PDA worked against it in 2024 Lok Sabha election and UP approached to 2027 assembly election, the renaming was ensured.CM Yogi along with BJP national chief Nitin Nabin and state president Pankaj Chaudhary on the occasion of Guru Purnima on July 29 flagged off “Shri Guru Ravidas Maharaj Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan” in Varanasi to mark the 650th Prakash Parv of Sant Ravidas to conclude on the occasion of saint’s birth anniversary on Maghi Purnima on February 20, 2027.On the same day Yogi had announced for the renaming of Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar Bhadohi.
