In a significant move, the Maharashtra government has officially altered the names of two prominent locations in the state. The historic city of Aurangabad has been officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, while the district of Osmanabad will now be known as Dharashiv. The announcement came through a notification issued by the Revenue Department under the leadership of chief minister Eknath Shinde.
This change follows a careful consideration of suggestions and objections that were solicited from the public several months ago. The notification affirms that the decision to change these names applies not only at the city and district levels but also at the sub-division, village, and taluka levels.
The decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad was initially made on June 29th the previous year, during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. However, it is noteworthy that this decision occurred just one day before Thackeray resigned from his post due to a rebellion led by his party colleague, Eknath Shinde. This revolt ultimately led to the ousting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which was a coalition comprising the Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena.
When Chief Minister Shinde, along with his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, were sworn into office the day following Thackeray’s resignation, they immediately voiced their opposition to the renaming decision made by the previous administration.
They argued that it was executed illegally, as it was undertaken after the governor had requested the government to prove its majority in the state assembly.
