PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun Defending the decision of his government to change the names of 15 localities in Haridwar, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts of the State, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Tuesday that these places have been renamed in accordance with the public sentiments and to preserve the original character of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Interacting with media persons, the CM expressed confidence that the decision aims to enhance the faith and belief of people in the State. He said that this initiative aims to inspire people by honouring great personalities who have contributed to the preservation of Indian culture. The places have now been named after religious deities and prominent local personalities, he said. On Monday the State government issued an order for renaming many localities in some districts. In Haridwar district, Aurangzebpur will be renamed Shivaji Nagar, Gajiwali to Arya Nagar, Chandpur to Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Mohammadpur Jat to Mohanpur Jat, Khanpur Kursli to Ambedkar Nagar, Idrishpur to Nandpur, Khanpur to Shri Krishnapur and Akbarpur Fazalpur to Vijayanagar. In Dehradun district, Miyanwala will be renamed Ramjiwala, Pirwala to Kesari Nagar, Chandpur Khurd to Prithviraj Nagar, and Abdullah Nagar to Daksh Nagar. In Nainital district, Nawabi Road will be renamed as Atal Marg and the road from Panchakki to ITI will be named after Guru Golwalkar. In Udham Singh Nagar, the Sultanpur Patti municipal council was renamed as Kaushalyapuri. Box Renaming exercise a ploy divert attention from illegal mining accusations: Dasauni PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun The chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress Garima Dasauni has said that by changing the names of many localities in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government is trying to divert the attention of people from the illegal mining accusations by the former chief minister and Haridwar Lok Sabha MP Trivendra Singh Rawat. She said that it is interesting to note that the Uttarakhand government chose to change the names of the localities on Eid, a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed gifts to the members of the Muslim community. She said that it has become a habit of BJP governments to change the names of the places and they have nothing to do with the development, women empowerment and other issues associated with the welfare of the people.