Led by Leaders of Opposition in the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya and Naseemuddin Siddiqui respectively, BSP workers carrying placards sat on a dharna at the Ambedkar Park here.
"The renaming of the park is indicative of the cheap mentality of the Samajwadi Party and we are lodging a protest against it," Maurya said.
"Today we are staging a token dharna asking the government to come back to its senses...In case they fail to do so, the BSP will unitedly stage a massive show of strength," Maurya said.
Protesting the government's move, Siddiqui said if the SP government wanted to name parks after socialist thinkers they are free to develop new parks instead of renaming the old ones.
"It was the BSP government which had developed the parks and established new parks...Was it supposed to consult the SP on their names," Siddiqui said adding that BSP developed parks and new districts and named them on their own.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had earlier announced building of the Janeshwar Mishra Park over an 367-acre area at the site where the Mayawati government had proposed the Bhimrao Ambedkar Harit Park.
Before that the SP government had reversed some decisions of the Mayawati government like renaming of new districts and an University.