MVA partners to discuss Aurangabad renaming demand

Shiv Sena is pushing for the renaming, Congress is opposing it, while NCP has decided to stay mum regarding the issue

Amid a war of words, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi members in Maharashtra on Thursday decided to sit together and discuss the renaming Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar, an issue that has created a strain among the three allies.

While Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s party Shiv Sena is pushing for the renaming of Aurangabad, Congress is vehemently opposing it. Meanwhile, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has decided not to politicise the issue and preferred to be mum.

In fact, the state’s revenue minister and Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat has slammed the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations for using Sambhaji Nagar and Aurangabad within brackets to convey a decision of the government. Incidentally, Thackeray holds the charge of the Information and Public Relations department.

To cool tempers, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said, “The three parties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) sit together and take any decision...it is working for the last one year. In this case of the issue of (renaming of) Aurangabad, we will sit and decide.”

Thorat, meanwhile, reiterated that the Congress is opposed to it. “The Congress is opposed to renaming cities...there is nothing new in this, this is our position...just renaming cities does not uplift the poor.”

The Abu Asim Azmi-led Samajwadi Party, another ally of MVA, and the Owaisi-brothers-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, who have a significant presence in Aurangabad, have opposed the demand.

The Raj Thackeray-led MNS, however, feels that it is high time the name is changed.

The BJP meanwhile has lashed out at the Shiv Sena. “After Congress, the Samajwadi Party has opposed the renaming...Uddhav ji will have to tell us whether it is the Shiv Sena of Hinduhrudaysamrat (Balasaheb Thackeray) or the saffron is now green,” asked BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.

Meanwhile, Thackeray had written to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, requesting a notification on the renaming of Aurangabad airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport as early as possible. The communication was based on a resolution passed unanimously in both Houses of the state legislature during the budget session.