A political controversy in Maharashtra was started at the naming ceremony for three tiger cubs when a chit that seemed to bear the name “Aditya” was removed and replaced with another one.
According to a PTI report, the Maharashtra opposition leaders connected the name to Aaditya Thackeray, a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi administration headed by Uddhav Thackeray that fell last year after a revolt by the current chief minister Eknath Shinde caused a contentious split in the Shiv Sena.
According to the report, the event happened in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city when State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chief Minister Shinde, and his deputy, Ajit Pawar, were invited to a ceremony to name two male and one female tiger cubs.
Visuals of the incident indicated that after Shinde chose one chit out of a glass bowl, Ajit Pawar was asked to choose a chit from another container.
Pawar afterwards demonstrated the chit to someone.
The report said that at that point, “a voice in the background could be heard saying it’s Aditya and advising Pawar to go for another.”
The name on the second chit, Vikram, was read aloud after Pawar selected it.
Later, it was reported that Shravani, Vikram, and Kanha were the three cubs’ official names.
However, it said that the chit that seemed to include the name “Aditya” provided a platform for opposition figures to criticize the Shinde administration.
Ambadas Danve, the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, and Shiv Sena (UBT) said, “No one can stop Aaditya, whether from this world (referring to Aaditya Thackeray) or the sky (the Sun is also known as Aditya).” This administration is so afraid of his name,” he continued, according to the report.
Later, it claimed that Shinde minimized a query on the name controversy.
At the naming ceremony, two chits were simultaneously drawn. One chit was thus set aside. The article said that he responded, “There is nothing more to this.
Such little matters shouldn’t be mentioned, Mungantiwar said. A cub born in captivity may be given a name, but a cub born in the wild cannot. We are not afraid of any Aditya, he reportedly stated.
Imtiaz Jaleel, a local MP and the head of AIMIM, was quoted as saying ironically that there was no need to give the cubs any other names.
“The cubs could have been named Devendra, Ajit, and Eknath.” He described the incident as “low level politics.” He was cited as saying, “I do not want to make any further comment on this.”
