Taking a cue from his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath, Gujarat Chief Minister (CM) Vijay Rupani, it seems, is planning to join the bandwagon of renaming cities. The state government is poised to rename Ahmedabad as Karnavati. The CM announced that his government would rename Ahmedabad before 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

It was the New Year's day in Gujarat when Rupani, following tradition set by his predecessors — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi — visited the ancient Bhadrakali Mata temple in Ahmedabad. The temple was built during the medieval age and believed to have been constructed when this city was known as Karnavati.

"We are considering to rename Ahmedabad as Karnavati. The talks have been going on since a long time. We will think about it in the days to come," he said on Thursday.

The CM added that all legal aspects would be explored before any concrete step was taken. The RSS has been pushing for renaming Ahme-dabad as Karnavati after a Hindu king, Karan Dev, who is said to have established the city in the 11th century.

Ahmedabad Mayor Bijal Patel who was present on occasion alongside Rupani said she would also follow the instructions from the state government for the rename of city. "It is the procedure which needs to be followed carefully and we will seek state government's guidance for this. If needed, central government also will be kept in the loop for renaming the city as citizens also have the same feeling. We will eventually come up with a resolution to rename Ahmedabad as Karnavati," she said. The Congress, however, condemned the government's announcement as a poll gimmick.

The party spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "This is all about a poll propaganda by the BJP to win the sentiments of public. The BJP government could not rename the city even they ruled in state and Centre for many years."