The Central government has approved the renaming of Maharashtra's Aurangabad city as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and of Osmanabad city as Dharashiv, the state's Chief Minister Eknath Shinde confirmed on Friday, 24 February.
Details: Sambhaji was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Maratha king after whom Shinde's party Shiv Sena is named. He was killed on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who gave Aurangabad its name in the 17th century.
Osmanabad, named after Hyderabad's last ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan, derives its new name, Dharashiv, from sixth-century caves near the city.
The state government had approved the renaming of these cities in 2022.
The decision to rename these cities was taken in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's last cabinet meeting chaired by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on 29 June 2022, just before he resigned.
After coming to power, the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra re-approved the renaming of these cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively.
Reactions: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP from Aurangabad Imtiaz Jaleel said that the BJP is playing politics in the name of his city.
"Aurangabad is, was and will always be our city. Now wait for our show of strength for Aurangabad. A massive morcha for our beloved city! Get ready Aurangabadis to defeat these forces (BJP) playing politics in the name of our city. We condemn & we will fight," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, CM Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the Centre's nod towards renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad.
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