Uddhav cabinet renames Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar day ahead of trust vote

The Maharashtra cabinet also approved the renaming of Osmanabad city as Dharashiv and named the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late DB Patil.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led cabinet in Maharashtra on Wednesday gave its nod to the renaming of Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad city as Dharashiv, besides naming of upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late DB Patil.

File photo of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. (HT_PRINT)

The decisions were taken during a key cabinet meeting that was held at a time when the fate of the Thackeray's coalition government was being discussed in the Supreme Court where an order of governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for a floor test on Thursday was challenged by the Shiv Sena's chief whip Sunil Prabhu.

The decision to change the name of Aurangabad, a historical city in central Maharashtra, is a sensitive issue for the beleaguered Sena that is facing one of its worst crisis in the wake of a rebellion by disgruntled leader Eknath Shinde leading to a latest crisis from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MV) coalition.

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After the Shiv Sena had severed its decades-old ties with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form the MVA government, the BJP had often reminded the Sena of its own old demand to rename Aurangabad that derived its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Thackeray is said to have told his coalition partners that while they cooperated will with him, its own people betrayed him.

“The CM said that we cooperated with him and he will expect similar cooperation from us in the future as well. He also said that he will behave with us in a similar manner,” said Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Sunil Kedar after the cabinet meeting in Mumbai.

NCP leader Jayant Patil said the CM said that all three parties came together and did good work in the two-and-half years. “He expressed his gratitude to all parties. Tomorrow, vote of confidence will take place and it will be decided if it's the end or not.”

The Congress had demanded in the cabinet meeting that Pune city be named as Jijau Nagar, after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother, and Mumbai Trans Harbour link between Sewree and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai be named for former chief minister late AR Antulay.

But these demands were apparently not considered. The Congress had backed the demand to name Navi Mumbai Airport after DB Patil. State planning agency CIDCO had earlier proposed to name the Navi Mumbai airport after Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray.

(With inputs from agencies and bureau)