Just before resigning from the position of Chief Minister and ending the term of MVA coalition, the Cabinet approved the changing of names of the cities Aurangabad and Osmanabad. Aurangabad will now be known as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad will be known as Dharashiv, respectively. Additionally, DB Patil International Airport will now be known as Navi Mumbai Airport.
During the cabinet meeting, the Congress, which had its part in the MVA government, demanded that the city of Pune be renamed Jijau Nagar after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s mother and that the Mumbai Trans Harbour link between Sewree and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai be given the name of the late A R Antulay, a former chief minister.
The Shiv Sena, which leads the ruling MVA coalition and is facing a rebellion by the majority of its MLAs, made its decision on the contentious matter of renaming the historically significant city of Aurangabad in central Maharashtra. However, Congress leaders Varsha Gaikwad and Aslam Sheikh, who are also Cabinet ministers in the MVA coalition government, walked out of the meeting.
Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister, presided over the cabinet gathering. The BJP had frequently reminded the Sena of its own previous demand to rename Aurangabad, which took its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, when the Shiv Sena broke from its alliance with the BJP and joined forces with the Congress and NCP to create the MVA administration.
Post the decision, Uddhav Thackeray went live on Facebook and announced resignation as Chief minister and MLC desolving the MVA led coalition government.
DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.