Days after commenting on the MVA government’s decision to rename Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar, the AIMIM MP from Aurangabad has again spoken out against the decision.
Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel said that a Delhi official had told him that for a big city like Aurangabad, about one lakh rupees may be needed for this. 1,000 crore to change its name.
“There are some people who want to paint everything in a communal colour. This is not an issue, which is related to Hindus and Muslims. A person often identifies himself with a city,” Jalil said.
“If the name is changed, it requires huge amount of money. I read in a report, if you want to change the name of a small town, it needs approx. 500 crores. A Delhi official told me that for a city like Aurangabad, it might be needed 1,000 crores. This is just for replacing government documents and correspondence. This is tax money – yours and mine,” the 53-year-old leader said.
Highlighting the challenges faced by an average citizen, he said, “If I have a shop, I have to change. New Aadhar card has to be made. You have to get in line. It is not that Uddhav Thackeray or Sharad Pawar or other leaders will come to your aid. It will be a matter of sorrow for the common people.”
Criticizing NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s remarks that he was not aware of the move, the Aurangabad MP said, “Pawar’s statement that he was not aware of the name change proposal in the cabinet meeting and That they found out only after its passage is ridiculous. , He is visiting Aurangabad as a damage control exercise.
The AIMIM MP had earlier said that Aurangabad was renamed as the last bid to save the MVA government in Maharashtra.
Aurangabad was renamed Sambhajinagar by the former Uddhav Thackeray government due to the rebellion of Eknath Shinde, who later became the Chief Minister. Apart from Aurangabad, the name of Osmanabad city was also changed to Dharashiv, which was one of the last major announcements by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.