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Aurangabad MP on name change: 'May cost 1K crore, Sharad Pawar remark laughable'
Imtiaz Jaleel had earlier said the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress combine took the decision as the last-ditch effort to save the government.
Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel has yet again spoken against the decision to change the name of the city. The Maharashtra city was renamed as Sambhajinagar by the former Uddhav Thackeray government just before its collapse due to the rebellion of Eknath Shinde, who later became the chief minister. The name change of Aurangabad and Osmanabad city as Dharashiv was among one of the last key announcements by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Jaleel, who belongs to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, had earlier said that Aurangabad was renamed as the last bid to save the government. Now, he has spoken about the possible financial implications and challenges that citizens may face.
“There are some people who want to paint everything in a communal colour. This is not an issue, which is to do with Hindus and Muslims. A person often identifies himself or herself with a city,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
“If the name is changed, it requires huge amounts of money. I read in a report, if you want to change the name of a small city, it needs about ₹500 crore. A Delhi official told me that for a city like Aurangabad, it may require up to ₹1,000 crore. This is just to change the government documents and correspondences. This is tax money - which belongs to you and me,” the 53-year-old leader added.
Further highlighting the challenges an average citizen may face, he said: “If I own a shop, I will have to change. I will have to get a new Aadhar card. You will have to line up. It’s not like Uddhav Thackeray or Sharad Pawar or other leaders would come to help you. It will be a misery for the common people.:
He also criticized Sharad Pawar’s remark that he did not know about the move. "Renaming these places was not part of the common minimum programme of the MVA", Pawar had told reporters on Sunday, news agency PTI reported.
"I came to know only after the decision was taken. It was taken without prior consultation. Opinions were expressed by our people during the cabinet meeting over the proposal. But the decision was that of the (then) chief minister (Thackeray)," he said.
Hitting back at the NCP veteran, Jaleel said: "Pawar's statement that he did not know about the renaming proposal coming up at the cabinet meeting and that he found out only after it was passed is laughable. He is touring Aurangabad as a damage control exercise,"
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
