RSS Renews Pitch to Rename Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revived the proposal to rename Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar by holding a three-day Samanwaya Baithak (coordination meeting) in the first week of January 2022 to review the work of affiliated organisations and prepare for the upcoming assembly elections in five states next year. “The Samanvay Baithak (coordination meeting) of the chief functionaries of various organizations inspired by the RSS working in different areas of social life will be held from 5th to 7th Jan. 2022 at Bhagyanagar, Telangana: Sunil Ambekar,” RSS Tweeted.

However, RSS did not directly mention changing the Hyderbad name as Bhagyanagar but was using Bhagyanagar instead of Hyderabad in the speech. But both  RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party have argued for renaming Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar. During the 2020 Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that if Faizabad can be renamed Ayodhya and Allahabad can be renamed Prayagraj, then Hyderabad may be called Bhagyanagar.

Notably, RSS has not clearly demanded to change the name of the city but has used ‘Bhagyanagar’ instead of Hyderabad. It is worth mentioning that both RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party have been raising the demand to rename Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar. During the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, 2020, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that if Faizabad can be renamed Ayodhya and Allahabad as Prayagraj, then Hyderabad too can be renamed as Bhagyanagar.

"Someone asked me if Hyderabad might be called Bhagyanagar. Why not, I thought. I told them that once the BJP took power in Uttar Pradesh, we called Faizabad Ayodhya and Allahabad Prayagraj. So, why can't Hyderabad be called Bhagyanagar?" Yogi had previously stated. "RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat, BJP National President JP Nadda, Party National General Secretary BL Santosh and Joint General Secretary Shiv Prakash, as well as other high office bearers of connected organisations," sources added. According to insiders, the BJP leaders would also discuss their vision and plans for the following year.

There will be significant discussions during the conference about the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Goa, as well as any support needed from the affiliates in the polls. Every year, such meetings between the BJP and the RSS take place. In June of this year, BJP General Secretary BL Santhosh attended a coordination meeting in Uttar Pradesh.