The Mughalsarai railway station in Uttar Pradesh was renamed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) station on Saturday. The move is seen as a bid by the Yogi Adityanath-led state government to revive the legacy of the Jan Sangh leader who died at the junction in 1968. The proposal to renamed the station was met with strong criticism by the Opposition.

In its proposal to rename the station, the state government had pointed to the mysterious death of Upadhyaya at the Mughalsarai station as one of the primary reasons to rename the station.

To ensure smooth transition and no ambiguity for passengers while making reservations, the railway ministry will also be making changes in its records.

Mughalsarai is the largest marshalling yard in Asia and is considered one of the oldest railway stations. The station was constructed in 1862 when the East India Company linked Howrah to Delhi by rail.

In June, the UP government gave its green signal for the proposal to rename the station after Upadhyaya. The following month, the Home Ministry received a request from the state for a no-objection certificate (NOC), which is required to rename stations.