Protests have been held in Aurangabad against Congressional opposition to the city’s renaming.
Mumbai:
The tension between Shiv Sena and Congress, unlikely allies in Maharashtra’s ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government in, appears to have resurfaced as the Seine’s three-decade campaign to rename the city of Aurangabad (named after the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb) to Sambhajinagar. (after Chhatrapati Shivaji’s son, whom Aurangzeb had killed) picks up pace once more.
Although the head of the state Congress, Balasaheb Thorat, said this week that his party would “strongly oppose” any proposal, the Sena said on Saturday it was confident that the issue would be resolved once all MVA members ( including Sharad Pawar’s NCP) hold talks.
“This demand was (made by) the late Balasaheb Thackeray. He changed the name to Sambhajinagar … only the name of the paperwork is being changed,” said Sena deputy Sanjay Raut, adding: “There is no break between the partners of the MVA. sit together and solve this problem. “
The Sena also mounted a veiled attack on the BJP opponent through the party’s spokesman ‘Saamna‘, stating that the congressional stance had “made the BJP happy”, adding, “… the opposition of Congress (to the name change proposal) is not new and therefore linking it to the MVA government it’s silly. “
Just two days earlier, Thorat had said: “This is not part of our Common Minimum Program and Congress does not believe in changing names. Congress believes in development. Simply changing names will not bring development to the common man.”
The Samajwadi Party has also been adamant in opposing the Sena’s proposal, with MLA Abu Azmi declaring: “This is just bank voting policy and nothing else.”
The opposition BJP, which until October last year was allied with the Sena, has pounced on the apparent rift, with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis noting that the party was raising the issue before local organ elections, and that it was “drama and politics of both Shiv Sena and Congress”.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam claimed: “They have already decided … one will object and the other will propose.”
Aurangabad will vote in civic polls in about four months from now. The city, which is believed to have been established in the early 16th century, has a sizeable Muslim population.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, people from the city’s Maratha community took to the streets Sunday to protest congressional opposition to the proposed name change. Khaire Patil, president of Maratha Morcha, told the ANI news agency that the group would demonstrate against Congress.
The proposal to change the name of Aurangabad was submitted in June 1995. The city’s municipal corporation raised the issue which was later challenged by Congress in the High Court and the Supreme Court.
With contributions from ANI
.
