Mayawati attacks Samajwadi govt for renaming varsity

Former UP Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Tuesday lashed out at Samjawadi government's decision to rename Manyavar Kanshiramji Urdu-Farsi University, saying it was a "politically vindictive act".

"This step (renaming the University) of the Samajwadi Party government is totally undignified, disgusting and a politically vindictive act," Mayawati said in a statement.

Instead of changing the name, the SP government should have opened a new university and given it a name of its choice, she said, adding that everyone is aware that the BSP regime had set up the varsity and renamed it after Kanshi Ramji as an acknowledgement of his contribution to the state.

The former chief minister said Kanshi Ram's love for Urdu and his knowledge of the language is widely known, but the Samajwadi government has changed the name of the University which is most "unfortunate" and "condemnable".

Mayawati recalled that earlier too the SP government had changed the name of Kanshiram Nagar to Kasganj and termed these decisions of the state government as indicative of "ungratefulness" and "betrayal".

In 1993, Kanshi Ram had helped Mulayam Singh Yadav who was totally marginalised at that time to become the chief minister, she reminded the ruling party.

Earlier, the Cabinet gave approval to rename Manyavar Kanshiram Arbi-Farsi University as Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Arbi-Farsi University.