The Haryana government has decided to change the name of Haryana Urban Development Authority, saying its acronym, HUDA, bore similarities with the name of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, PTI reported on Friday. The decision was taken on Thursday during a state Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Manohar Lal Khattar.
The authority was actually called the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran in Hindi and the Haryana Urban Development Authority in English. However, on Thursday, the Cabinet decided that the authority, henceforth, be known as Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran in both languages.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said the similarities between HUDA and Hooda used to cause a lot of confusion. “People say Hooda will be jailed,” Vij told The Indian Express. “But only those who are aware of the case can understand what it means.”
Hooda is at the centre of a CBI probe in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of land Associated Journals Limited in Panchkula. “I have said earlier that this government’s only work is badala [vendetta], badli [transferring officials], and namkaran [changing names],” he said commenting on the name change of HUDA.
Meanwhile, the Congress said the BJP government in Haryana was worried of the “increasing popularity” of Bhupinder Singh Hooda. “They can change name of HUDA, but they won’t be able to remove the name of Hooda from the hearts of the masses,” Ran Singh Mann, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson told The Indian Express.
Gurgaon has been renamed Gurugram and Mewat is now called Nuh. In April, the government changed Ballabhgarh;s name to Balramgarh. The govenrment has also decided to rename the sports stadiums across the state that had been named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
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