Aurangabad name change acceptable to all, says Maharashtra BJP chief

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Monday said renaming of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar was "acceptable to all" and his party would pass a resolution on this if it came to power in the civic body there.

He also chided the Shiv Sena, which has been a votary of the name change for several years, but was now in alliance with the Congress, which has consistently opposed it.

"The name Sambhajinagar is acceptable to all. Then why don't we change the name? I can assure you, if we come to power in Aurangabad (municipal corporation), we will pass a resolution in favour of the name change," Patil told reporters here.

"The Congress has opposed it, but the Sena needs the Congress to run its government. Shiv Sena must decided if it can stake power on this issue," he added.

The Sena first made the demand to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar over two decades ago, and a proposal was passed in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in June 1995, which was challenged by a Congress corporator in the high court and later in the Supreme Court.