Uddhav Thackeray gracefully stepped down as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister on Wednesday. As part of its latest decision, the Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra approved renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad. Amid the possible collapse of the Shiv Sena, the renaming was an attempt by the party to burnish its Hindutva credentials. The proposal was cleared and Aurangabad was renamed Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad got renamed Dharashiv.
Why Aurangabad?
The Deccan was invaded by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1653, who established his capital there and gave it the new name of Aurangabad. On instructions from Aurangzeb, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son and successor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was brutally tortured and murdered in 1689. In 1988, the Sena won elections to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation following communal disturbances. Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray announced on May 8, 1988, that the city will now be known as Sambhajinagar in honour of Sambhaji Maharaj. During the two years that the Shiv Sena has been in power, the BJP and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have both criticized the party for failing to fulfil Balasaheb’s promise.
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Shiv Sena Mocked By Opposition
The Sena has been referring to Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar in its political speeches and in the party journal Saamna, but the city’s name was never actually changed. Under pressure from its secular partners NCP and Congress, the opposition claims that the Sena broke its vow to rename Aurangabad in particular, and the opposition BJP has constantly made fun of them for it. Over the past week, the Shiv Sena rebels under the leadership of Eknath Shinde have publicly questioned the party of Balasaheb Thackeray’s devotion to Hindutva and claimed that the NCP and Congress are pressuring the Shiv Sena to gradually give up its essential beliefs.
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