Nitish Kumar pooh poohs BJP's demand to rename Bakhtiyarpur, named after plunderer of old Nalanda University

PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Monday pooh-poohed the demand of renaming Bakhtiyarpur, a small town in Patna district, saying, "It is a ‘Faltu baat’ (worthless talk)."
As Bakhtiyarpur is named after Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, the military general of slave dynasty founder Qutubuddin Aibak-- who had destroyed the famous Nalanda University in Bihar in the 12th century; several right wing organizations especially BJP and VHP, have time and again been demanding its renaming, after removing the name of plunderer of the historic Nalanda University.
Recently, a firebrand BJP MLA demanded to rename Bakhtiyarpur as "Nitish Nagar" as the town happens to be the birthplace of the Bihar CM.
"Why the name of Bakhtiyarpur be changed? Who will change its name? It is my birthplace. Some people keep saying meaningless and rubbish things about Bakhtiyarpur," Nitish shot back when his attention was drawn towards a fresh demand from the BJP quarters to rename his birthplace.
"All these demands are 'Faltu baat'," he said. Nitish was responding to a media query after his weekly "Janta Ke Darbar Mein Mukhya Mantri" programme.
BJP’s Bisfi MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur, who keep raising the issues related to hardcore ‘Hindutva’ recently said, "If Allahabad can be renamed as Prayagraj, why not Bakhtiyarpur? It should be renamed as ‘Nitish Nagar.’ This place has had a close association with Nitish Kumar since his childhood. He is a vikas purush (development man) and this would be a small gesture towards Nitish Kumar."
Nitish also recalled how a Member of Parliament (MP) retorted such a demand in the Parliament saying, “The man who destroyed the old Nalanda University had put his military camp at Bakhtiyarpur. And now, a man who was born in Bakhtiyarpur, is building a new Nalanda University at the same location.”
Earlier in September 2019, the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, an umbrella body of Hindu seers, while seeking a change in the name of Bakhtiyarpur town and railway station, wrote to the Bihar CM, “It is time to undo the sins of the past by renaming the town and the railway station.”