Aurangabad's name changed to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Osmanabad as Dharashiv after Centre's nod

The renaming of Aurangabad in Maharashtra as "Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar" and Osmanabad as "Dharashiv" has been approved by the Union government.

Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, shared the information on Twitter.

Osmanabad was named after a 20th-century ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad, whereas Aurangabad gets its name from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Chhatrapati Sambhaji was the second ruler of the Maratha state established by his father, the eldest son of the warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In 1689, Sambhaji Maharaj was put to death on Aurangzeb's orders.
According to some academics, Dharashiv, the name of a cave complex near Osmanabad, dates back to the 8th century.

For a long time, Hindu right-wing organizations had demanded that the two cities be renamed.

Fadnavis on February 24 sent two letters to the deputy secretary of the state General Administration Department via Twitter.

In the letters, it was stated that the Center had no objection to these two central Maharashtra cities changing their names.

Fadnavis expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for making the choice.

He stated, "did what was promised" by the state government led by chief minister Eknath Shinde.

The final cabinet decision of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, which fell apart in June following Shinde's rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray, was to rename Aurangabad Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad Dharashiv.
The cabinet's decision was overturned by the new government, led by Eknath Shinde, and a new one was made.
Imtiaz Jaleel, the leader of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), reacted to the news by tweeting that they would demonstrate their strength for Aurangabad.

"Our city has always been and will always be Aurangabad. Now, we'll show Aurangabad our strength. A significant morcha for our cherished city! Prepare yourself, Aurangabadis, to defeat these BJP forces that are playing politics in our city's name. He tweeted, "We condemn and we will fight."

Ambadas Danve, leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), stated that the renaming represented a victory for the Shiv Sena's founding father, Bal Thackeray.

Ambadas Danve, the opposition leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, tweeted that Thackeray had "renamed" Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on May 9, 1988, when the city of Aurangabad was founded.
He wrote, "The name of Aurangzeb, the person who broke the temple of Kashi Vishweshwar, has been erased."

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