MAHARASHTRA: The cities of Aurangabad and Osmanabad in Maharashtra have been renamed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday. The ministry added that it had approved the proposal and had no objections to the renaming of the cities.
The national government had no issues with renaming Osmanabad, additional solicitor general Anil Singh told the Bombay High Court earlier in February. He submitted that a decision on renaming Aurangabad had not yet been made.
At the time, a bench consisting of Justice Sandeep V. Marne and Acting Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala was hearing appeals against the decision to rename the two cities.
On June 29, 2022, just hours before Uddhav Thackeray resigned as chief minister, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's cabinet decided to rename Aurangabad Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad Dharashiv. In actuality, it was one of the last actions taken by the Uddhav government.
Eknath Shinde, the chief minister, later asserted that the choice was unlawful because it was made after the MVA administration had lost its majority.
The plan to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv was approved by the Shinde administration on July 16, 2022. The cities' renaming has long been a demand of organisations like the BJP and the Shiv Sena.
Aurangabad became one of the major cities beyond the Mumbai-Thane region that the Sena had its sights set on in the late 1980s. Due to the city's 30% Muslim population, polarisation flourished there.
The Sena won the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections in 1988, shortly after riots that claimed the lives of more than 25 people.
In honour of Sambhaji, Shivaji's son who was murdered by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the city was renamed Sambhaji Nagar on May 8, 1988, according to a statement made by the late Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena-led government issued a notification in 1995 asking for comments and objections to the idea after the corporation adopted a resolution to that effect.
Then-AMC Corporator (of the Congress) Mushtaq Ahmed contested the notification in the high court.
Although the court rejected the request on the grounds that no judgement had been made, the renaming controversy has persisted and returned before each election. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had received criticism from both the BJP and the Sena for failing to rename the city.
The Congress and the NCP, two of its biggest allies, have not been particularly eager to rename the city.
The MVA government approved a plan to rename Aurangabad airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport in March 2020 as a consoling gesture. The name Osmanabad is derived from Mir Osman Ali Khan, the previous king of Hyderabad.
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