Owaisi fumes over Central government's decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad

After the Union government approved the renaming of Maharashtra's Aurangabad city as 'Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar' and Osmanabad city as 'Dharashiv' on Friday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the government for discriminating between the Hindus and Muslims. 

He said, "Tomorrow we will hold a press conference about the decision of renaming Aurangabad. This move by the central government shows that there is an attempt to create discrimination. The government is trying to divide the Hindus and Muslims in the country." 

The AIMIM Maharashtra chief, Imtiaz Jaleel also took to Twitter and criticised the decision of the central government. He said, "Aurangabad is, was and will always be our city. Now wait for our show of strength for Aurangabad. A massive morcha for our beloved city! Get ready Aurangabadis to defeat these forces (BJP) playing politics in the name of our city. We condemn & we will fight." 

Renaming of cities: Aurangabad & Osmanabad 

The Union government on Friday approved the renaming of Maharashtra's Aurangabad city as 'Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar' and that of Osmanabad city as 'Dharashiv'. Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis shared the news on Twitter. 

He tweeted two letters from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the deputy secretary of the state General Administration Department dated February 24. The letters stated that the Centre had no objection to the change in the names of these two central Maharashtra cities

The deputy CM also wrote, "Aurangabad as 'Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar', Osmanabad as 'Dharashiv.' The central government approves the decision of the state government! Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, many thanks! The government under the leadership of Chief Minister @mieknathshinde ji has 'demonstrated'...!"  

The city of Aurangabad derived its name from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, while Osmanabad was named for a 20th-century ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad. Chhatrapati Sambhaji, the eldest son of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was executed on Aurangzeb's orders in 1689.

The demand to rename both cities has been made for a long time by Hindu right-wing organisations. Notably, the renaming of both cities was the last cabinet decision of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Congress government, which collapsed last year. 

The new government led by Shinde and Fadnavis scrapped the previous resolution on renaming cities and took a fresh decision. The resolution was later sent to the central government for approval.