Lucknow, Feb 9 (IANS): The demand to rename cities in Uttar Pradesh has resurfaced.

After BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta raised the flag for renaming Lucknow, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has written a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking to rename Ghazipur as Vishwamitra Nagar and Bahraich as Raja Suheldev Nagar.

Rajbhar said: "While being in the Yogi cabinet in 2017, I had raised the demand of renaming Ghazipur and Bahraich districts. The same demands have been sent to the Chief Minister again.

"At a time when a grand temple is being built in Ayodhya and work is being done in the name of Lord Ram and episodes related to him, it is an ideal time to pay homage to his 'guru' Maharshi Vishwamitra by renaming Ghazipur after him. Vishwamitra's ashram is in Ghazipur."

He added that Bahraich was the birthplace of legendary Maharaja Suheldev, who had eliminated invader Ghazi Saiyyed Salar Masood and the city should be named after him.