Finally, the Shinde-Fadnavis government at the cabinet meeting held on Saturday cleared renaming of Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad as Dharashiv and the Navi Mumbai International Airport to be named after the noted farmer leader DB Patil.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was accompanied by the Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis, reiterated that the decisions taken by the previous MVA government in this regard were illegal as the government was in minority and the Governor had ordered a floor test. He further said the Shiv Sena-BJP government, which enjoys a majority of 165 members, has given its go ahead for renaming. Fadnavis said that a resolution will be moved in the state legislature in the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature and after its passage it will be forwarded to the Centre’s approval.
Shinde and Fadnavis criticised the MVA government’s decisions in its disparate move to project Hindutva credentials, saying why the renaming was done earlier. BJP had accused the Shiv Sena for not fulfilling its promise of renaming Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv due to the pressure from allies NCP and Congress.
However, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has lashed out at the Shinde-Fadnavis government on today’s decisions. In a tweet he said, ‘’Art 164(1-A) of Indian Constitution says that the number of Ministers, including CM in a State shall not be less than 12. For the last 2 weeks, a cabinet consisting of just 2 Ministers in Maharashtra is taking decisions that are not constitutionally valid. Hon Governor Sir, What's going on?’’
Earlier, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Saturday morning held a protest in Aurangabad for not confirming the cabinet minutes of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Former MPs Chandrakant Khaire and party legislator Ambadas Danve led the protest in front of the Chhatrapati Sambhaji’s statue and demanded that the Shinde-Fadnavis government should immediately rename the city.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis strongly defended the government’s decision about direct election of sarpanch of gram panchayat and president of nagar parishad and nagar panchayat claiming that it would bring in transparency and avoid use of money. ‘’The Maha Vikas Aghadi government had scrapped the BJP-led government’s decision with regard to direct election as they were interested in money to play an important role in their elections. However, the Shiv Sena-BJP government has restored the earlier decision whereby sarpanch and presidents will be elected directly from the people,’’ he said.
Fadnavis took a dig at former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar for his criticism saying it was because he was expecting defeats in the upcoming elections.
