No problem with renaming Maha's Aurangabad Airport: AIMIM MP

AIMIM MP from Aurangabad Imtiaz Jaleel on Thursday said they have no problem if the airport in Maharashtra is renamed after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, but the city's name should not be changed. Jaleel's comments came a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged the Centre to issue a notification at the earliest for renaming the Aurangabad Airport after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.

The Maharashtra cabinet in March 2020 decided to rename the Aurangabad Airport, situated in Chikhalthana area, after Sambhaji Maharaj. The Shiv Sena, which shares power with the NCP and the Congress in Maharashtra, has been demanding for the past couple of decades that Aurangabad be renamed as Sambhajinagar. However, the Congress has said it is against any such move.

Asked about the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (AIMIM) stand over the issue, Jaleel told PTI that, "We have no issue with renaming of the Aurangabad airport after Chhatrapati Sambhaji. But, we definitely have a problem with the renaming of the city."

"Considering the work of Chhatrapati Sambhaji, why not we rename our new industrial city after him. We also have a world-class Samruddhi Expressway (between Mumbai and Nagpur) which can be renamed after him," the Lok Sabha member said.

Earlier, on Tuesday, BJP Rajya Sabha member Dr Bhagwat Karad also urged Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to rename the airport here after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, saying the latter is the symbol of Maharashtra's self-respect. Karad also demanded financial aid for development of areas surrounding some of the heritage sites in Aurangabad.