Eknath Shinde renames Aurangabad again, says ‘legal’ this time

Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra on Saturday gave a cabinet approval to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively

Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra on Saturday gave a cabinet approval to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively.

Aurangabad, India - March 21, 2017:Deserted view of Bibi Ka Maqbara, a tomb located in Aurangabad, India, on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (HT Photos)

The cabinet also approved the decision to name the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport as ‘Loknete DB Patil Navi Mumbai Airport.’

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 June 29, just before he resigned.

However, Shinde said that their move was meant to prevent any legal challenges to the decision as the Thackeray regime was in a minority when the decision was taken.

“The decision was taken when the government was in a minority. Since we did not want any questions to be raised over it or for any legal challenge to arise… we asked for the proposal to be resubmitted and have now approved it again,” said Shinde.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the proposals would be tabled before the state legislature and approved and then sent to the union government for its approval.