The Maha Vikas Aghadi took the choice to rename Aurangabad as “Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar” while its government was in the minority, but the current administration has made it “foolproof,” according to Maharashtra Eknath Shinde on Saturday.
He was referring to a notice that was released on Friday evening changing the names of the districts of Aurangabad and Osmanabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively. The Marathwada region includes the districts.
“We made the renaming completely foolproof. When they were in the minority and on the verge of losing power, the previous MVA administration made the choice. However, we made it impenetrable, and the renaming is now facing challenges,” stated Shinde.
On June 29, 2022, shortly before he resigned in the wake of Shinde’s uprising, the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s last cabinet meeting, presided over by the then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, decided to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad.
The Thackeray-led administration’s decision to rename these locations, according to Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who were sworn in a day later, was illegitimate since it was made after the governor requested that it demonstrate majority in the state legislature.
The renaming of the cities of Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively, received cabinet approval in July of last year under the Shinde administration.
Aurangabad was renamed Sambhajinagar at the final cabinet meeting of the MVA government, but the Shinde administration prefixed it with the ‘Chhatrapati’ suffix.
While Osmanabad was given its name in honor of a 20th-century king of the Hyderabad princely state, Aurangabad takes its name from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The second ruler of the Maratha kingdom established by his father was Chhatrapati Sambhaji, the oldest son of the warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. On Aurangzeb’s instructions, Sambhaji Maharaj was put to death in 1689.
According to some researchers, the cave system known as Dharashiv, which is close to Osmanabad, dates to the eighth century.
On Saturday, the current Shiv Sena, BJP, and an NCP group headed by Ajit Pawar conducted a special cabinet meeting in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to commemorate the Marathwada Liberation Day’s 75th anniversary, which is observed on September 17 every year.
Along with updated administrative sanctions for irrigation projects costing Rs 14,000 crore, Shinde also unveiled a package of Rs 45,000 crore for the development of the Marathwada area.
Ambadas Danve, the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, said that the current administration was attempting to claim credit for the name.
Speaking during a news conference, he said, “Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray initially suggested renaming Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar. Uddhav Thackeray was the one who made the choice. Why didn’t they rename the city between 2014 and 2019 while the Devendra Fadnavis administration was in full majority if the present state leaders want to claim credit for this renaming? Danve also criticized the state administration for its Marathwada pronouncements. There hasn’t been any new information revealed, and they are already included in the state budget. If we look at the list of announcements from today, they are identical to those from 2016,” he observed.
The leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) further said that the chief minister was forced to end his stay at a luxury hotel as a result of “we (opposition)” bringing it up.
Marathwada was originally a part of Hyderabad’s kingdom under the leadership of the Nizam. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), Dharashiv (previously Osmanabad), Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli, and Parbhani are the eight districts that make up the current structure.
