After Gaya renamed as Gaya Ji, demand for renaming Bihar’s capital Patna as Pataliputra gains momentum

He, however, congratulated Nitish for changing the name of Gaya town, which will be now officially known as Gaya Ji. “But when will the name of Patna be changed? Is there any proposal to do so on the demand of people of the state capital?” he sought to know from the CM.

Sulabh is not alone in raising the issue of renaming Patna as Pataliputra. Earlier, lieutenant general (retired) S K Sinha had also urged Nitish to do so. Sinha, who was later appointed as Governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, had requested the CM to consider the long pending demand of the people.

Gen Sinha had argued that if Madras can be renamed Chennai, Bombay as Mumbai, Calcutta as Kolkata, why not rename Patna as Pataliputra, which was the capital of the powerful Maurya Empire and stood at the site of the Bihar capital.

On the other hand, RJD chief Lalu Prasad had earlier advocated to rename Patna as Azeemabad. “Patna was known as Azeemabad during the medieval period,” he had said.