Aurangabad (Maharashtra):The President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (AIMIM) Maharashtra unit Imtiaz Jaleel on Monday spoke out against the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar. The decision to rename the city was among the last decisions made by Uddhav Thackeray's government just before it collapsed. The Uddhav Thackeray Cabinet approved the decision on June 29.
"I don't know what will be proved by changing the name of the city, but the people will have to suffer. On the other hand, it is not known what will be achieved from this. But it will cost the exchequer Rs 1,000 crore," said AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jalil. "This is only to change the documents of the government department. Common people have to go through a burden of several thousand crores," he added.
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The AIMIM leader said the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, by approving this decision, erased the historical significance of the city. It will take a year for the new name 'Sambhajinagar' to become popular. He added that renaming a city is not an easy task and it may cost the exchequer nearly Rs 1,000 crores. Residents will have to update their Aadhar Cards, Ration Cards, Passports, and other identification cards.
Students will have to apply to make changes in their academic certificates, while students studying abroad will have to bear the extra cost of returning to their city to make these changes. Imtiaz Jaleel accused Uddhav Thackeray, Nana Patole, and Sharad Pawar of forcing the citizens to stand in long lines in order to make the necessary changes to their documents.
Sharad Pawar on the other hand said he had not been informed about the decision in the first place. "It was not part of Maha Vikas Aghadi's common minimum programme. I came to know only after the decision was taken," he said. Jaleel said Sharad Pawar's statement regarding the renaming is "absurd and difficult to believe".
"Pawar's statement that he did not know about the renaming proposal coming up at the cabinet meeting and that he found out only after it was passed is laughable. He is touring Aurangabad as a damage control exercise," Imtiaz Jaleel told reporters.
