In a letter issued to the Maharashtra government, Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha organisation has sought to rename the city of Pune to Jijapur, the Pune Mirror reported on Monday, 12 November.
The demand comes in the wake of Shiv Sena demanding that Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Khultabad in Marathwada area should be renamed to Sambhaji Nagar, Dharashiv, and Ratnaprabha, respectively.
Speaking to the newspaper, Santosh Shinde, Pune district president of Sambhaji Brigade, said that the organisation will meet Pune district collector, Naval Kishore Ram, on Monday to submit an official letter of request.
If the proposal is approved, Pune will be the latest city to be added to the list of 25 places that have been renamed in the last one year. In October, the BJP-led UP government had renamed Allahabad to Prayagraj, and last week, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced that Faizabad will now be called Ayodhya.
WHY THE NAME ‘JIJAPUR’
Explaining the nomenclature Jijapur, Shinde told the Pune Mirror that the proposed name is based on the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s mother, Jijamata.
“She was a great visionary who ploughed the deserted Punawadi’s land in the 17th century with a golden plough, which is deemed to be the beginning of Pune’s prosperity.”Santosh Shinde, Pune District President, Sambhaji Brigade
Shinde said that that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should not deny the proposal as BJP claims to be in power in Maharashtra with the blessings of warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji.
(With inputs from Pune Mirror)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)