UP chief minister Mayawati now holds a record for carving out the maximum number of districts in Uttar Pradesh. Alongside, she also remains the only political leader to have given a marked presence to dalit icons in the state by naming the new districts after them.
Ms Mayawati, in her four regimes as chief minister, has created 15 new districts — nine of them named after dalit icons, the latest being Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar that includes Mr Rahul Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency Amethi.
In her first stint as chief minister in 1995, Ms Mayawati created Ambedkar Nagar that was culled out of Faizabad.
In 1997, during her second regime, Ms Mayawati carved Sant Kabir Nagar out of Basti while Gautam Buddha Nagar was created out of Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr districts in the same year. Jyotiba Phule Nagar, earlier known as Amroha, was also accorded the status of district in 1997.
Hathras was made a district and renamed as Mahamaya Nagar, after the mother of Lord Buddha. Bhadohi was made a district and named as Sant Ravidas Nagar.
In her second regime, she also gave district status to Kaushambhi, Chitrakoot, Chandauli, Balrampur, Shravasti and Aurraiya but did not change their names.
Last year, the chief minister immortalised the memory of her mentor, late Kanshi Ram Nagar by elevating Kasganj in Etah to the status of a district and naming it as Kanshi Ram Nagar.
This week, the chief minister renamed Kanpur Dehat as Ramabai Nagar, after the wife of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
Amethi has been elevated to the status of a district.