MUMBAI: Two days later Maharashtra The head of Congress, Balasaheb Thorat, said his party would strongly oppose any proposal seeking to change the name Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, the Shiv Sena on Saturday he said that his resistance will not affect the tripartite government of the MVA in the state. Shiv Sena Leader Sanjay raut expressed his confidence that the problem will be solved when all the allies of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) (Sena, NCP and Congress) meet and speak.
On Thursday, Thorat had claimed that the Congress he would oppose any proposal to change the name of Aurangabad, saying that changing the place names was not part of the Common Minimum Program (CMP) of the three ruling parties. It was the Shiv Sena who first made the demand to change the name of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar more than two decades ago.
A proposal to this effect was approved at the general body meeting of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in June 1995, which was challenged by a congressional corporation in the higher court and later in Supreme Court.
In his party spokesman ‘Saamana’, Sena said: “Congress has opposed the proposal to change the name of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar. BJP happy. But the opposition of Congress to the proposal is not new and, therefore, linking it to the MVA government is silly. ”
“Even if the name has not been changed in government records, the last Shiv Sena supreme, Balasaheb Thackeray, had renamed Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar when there was the prime minister of Congress in the state. People had also accepted it,” he said . “But some people feel that the issue of renaming Aurangabad will create friction within the ruling alliance,” Sena said in a veiled attack on the BJP.
“Thorat announced that if any proposal to change the name of Aurangabad is presented to the MVA government, his party would oppose it. It is his claim. After his statement, the BJP leaders began to demand that the Sena make clear its position on Sena has not changed her position on the matter. ”
“Balasaheb Thackeray changed the name from Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar 30 years ago, which was accepted by the people. And soon it will also be officially changed,” he said. The party led by Uddhav Thackeray said that BJP leader Chandrakant Patil asked if Allahabad’s name can be changed to Prayagraj, Faizabad’s to Ayodhya, why can’t Aurangabad’s name be changed to Sambhajinagar? “But we want to ask ourselves why the party did not do it when it was in power in Maharashtra,” added Sena.
“Any state requires a foundation of self-respect and even Congress will agree that Aurangazeb was not a secular person. Muslims in Maharashtra have supported the Shiv Sena. They want development and well-being,” he said. “It is an insult to the memory of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that a city in Maharashtra should be named after Aurangazeb, who brutally killed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj,” it read.
“But what Thorat is saying is correct. The Maharashtra government has a duty to implement the CMP to bring justice to the oppressed and the farmers,” he added. Congressional opposition to the proposed name change will not affect the MVA alliance, he said.
Meanwhile, Raut said, “Thirty years ago Balasaheb Thackeray gave the name Sambhajinagar. Now only the paperwork remains. When all the MVA allies sit together and talk, the problem will be solved.”
The name change of Aurangabad was not a political issue, he said. Congressional leader Sanjay Nirupam said the MVA government was formed to work and not change the names of the cities. “The CMP does not mention the name change of Aurangabad,” he said.
.
