A proposal to change the name was also passed in the Kumbh Mela Margdarshak Mandal meeting held in Allahabad. UP Governor Ram Naik had already supported the demands of the saints and the people of the Sangam city.
Earlier, BJP has welcomed this move of the government while the Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Yogi Adityanath government's proposed move to rename stating that the present dispensation wanted to show their work only by "renaming".
On Twitter, he wrote “today's rulers were trying to show that they are working by just changing the name of Allahabad. They have even re-named Ardh Kumbh to Kumbh. This is toying with tradition and belief,"
The new name ‘Prayagraj’ is said to be a tribute to the city as sees the convergence of two major rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna.