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Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar?

In a tit for tat, the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday passed a resolution renaming Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar.

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In a tit for tat, the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday passed a resolution renaming Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar.

The decision follows removal of the statue of Dadoji Konddev, Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Brahmin tutor, from the historic Lal Mahal in Pune by the NCP-Congress ruled Pune Municipal Corporation on
December 27.

Pandemonium prevailed in the special general body meeting of the AMC when the saffron alliance adopted the resolution.

Congress-NCP corporators put up a stiff fight to stop the resolution, but could not succeed. The Sena-BJP has a strength of 55 in the 99-member house, while the Congress-NCP alliance has 43 corporators.

The house also passed two other resolutions — to rename the local Chikalthana airport as Raje Sambhaji Bhosale airport and to install Konddev’s statue in front of the Shivaji museum near the district collectorate.

Mayor Anita Ghodele said the statue of Konddev, which was removed from Lal Mahal in Pune, would be brought to Aurangabad. “I am hopeful that the state government would accept all three resolutions and issue necessary notifications in this regard,” she said. Leader of Congress party in the AMC, Pramod Rathod, said the Congress-NCP will urge the state government not to pay heed to these resolutions. Several Congress and NCP leaders condemned the resolution and asked Sena-BJP to focus on development instead of raking up such issues which may foment communal trouble in the city.

The Sena-BJP, which is in control of the AMC for the past 25 years, shifted its focus to rename Aurangabad after a gap of over 15 years. It had adopted a resolution to rename the city during a general body meeting in 1995.

The then Sena-BJP government in the state headed by Manohar Joshi had issued a notification renaming the historic city after Sambhaji, Shivaji’s son.

NCP corporator Mushtaq Ahmed had challenged the notification in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court, which rejected his plea. Ahmed then moved the Supreme Court and obtained a stay.

However, in December 2002, the Congress-NCP government withdrew the notification and also the case from the apex court.

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