The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday announced its decision to rename Ahmednagar district as Ahilya Nagar after the 18th-century Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
The proposal to rename the city was first announced by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde in May last year on the 298th birth anniversary of the 18th-century queenAhilyabai Holkar. The event was attended by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar among others.
Bharatiya Janata Party had been demanding the renaming of the Ahmednagar district after the renaming of Maharashtra's Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively.
Speaking about the renaming of Ahmednagar, BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar told news agency ANI earlier, “Ahmednagar's name must be changed to Ahilya Nagar. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have changed the name of Aurangabad and Osmanabad after a demand raised by everyone. Following that people are also demanding of changing the name of Ahmednagar to Ahilya Nagar.”
The decision was announced amid other announcements including the Cabinet's decision to rename seven railway stations in Mumbai which were earlier given British era names.
{{/usCountry}}The decision was announced amid other announcements including the Cabinet's decision to rename seven railway stations in Mumbai which were earlier given British era names.
{{/usCountry}}Following the approval, Curry Road will be renamed Lalbaug, Sandhurst Road will now be known as Dongri, and Marine Lines will be renamed Mumbadevi. Others including Cotton Green station will be renamed Kalachowki, Charni Road will be renamed Girgaon, Dockyard Road to Mazgaon, and King Circle will be renamed Tirthakar Parshivnath. The Cabinet has also decided to rename Mumbai Central Station as Nana Jagannath Shankarsheth Station for which a proposal has been sent to the railways ministry.
The Maharashtra Cabinet has also approved the purchase of 2.5 acres of land in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, to construct a Maharashtra Bhavan there. The proposal for this was already made in the state budget in the previous session of the Maharashtra Assembly.
The Maharashtra Cabinet has approved the construction of a sea link between Uttan (Bhayander) and Virar (Palghar).
(With inputs from ANI)