MUMBAI: Congress has reiterated its objection to changing the name of Aurangabad even as its ally Shiv Sena said that the name change would happen soon, but that the issue would not affect the coalition government in Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra minister and head of the state Congress, Balasaheb Thorat, had said two days ago that he would strongly oppose renaming the city of Aurangabad in central Maharashtra as Sambhajinagar. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Thorat said the party reverts to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as well as his son and successor, Chhatrapati Sambhaji, but that the name change issue should not be used to “spread hatred.”
It was the Shiv Sena who first made the demand to change the name of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar more than two decades ago.
At the general meeting of the body of the Municipal Corporation of Aurangabad (AMC) in June 1995, a proposal in this regard was approved, which was challenged by a congressional corporation in the Superior Court and later in the Supreme Court.
An editorial on Saturday in Sena spokesman ‘Saamana’ said Congress has opposed the proposal to change the name of Aurangabad, which “has made the (opposition) BJP happy.”
“But congressional opposition to the proposal is not new, and therefore linking it to the government of Maha Vikas Aghadi is nonsense.”
“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.
He also asked why the BJP did not change the name of the city when it was in power in Maharashtra.
“It is an insult to the memory of Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj that a city in Maharashtra should be named after Aurangazeb, who brutally killed ChhatrapatiSambhaji Maharaj,” it read.
“But what Thorat is saying is correct. The Maharashtra government has a duty to implement the Common Minimum Program to bring justice to the oppressed and the farmers,” said the Sena spokesman.
Congressional opposition to the proposed name change will not affect the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, he said.
Speaking to reporters, the leader of the Seine, Sanjay Raut, said that Bal Thackeray had given the city the name Sambhajinagar. “Now only the paperwork remains. When all the MVA allies sit together and talk, the problem will be solved.”
Later in the evening, Thorat said that the issue of renaming a city should not be used to spread hatred and divisions in society. “Our focus is development works,” he added.
Aurangabad, which was once the seat of the Dakkhan (Deccan) province in the Mughal empire, derives its name from Emperor Aurangzeb.
Another state congressional leader and minister of state, Ashok Chavan, said renaming a city was not the coalition government’s priority and was not part of the common minimum program.
According to historian Dr. Dulari Qureshi, the city was known by various names in different periods, such as “Raj Tadag”, “Khadki” and “Fatehnagar”, before acquiring its current name.
.
