Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A week after the renaming of the Aurangabad city as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar by the Maharshtra government, the All India Majlis Itihaadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) staged a hunger strike in the city against the move. The hunger strike led by AIMIM state president and Member of Parliament Imtiaz Jalil was held in front of the Collector's office here.
Speaking to the media on the occasion, Jalil demanded that the original name of Aurangabad city should be restored. “Common people want the name Aurangabad, we lived with this name since we were born here,” he said. The AIMIM state president said that the name Aurangabad of the city has a history and it should not be erased.
Also read:Has MHA renamed Aurangabad district too? No clarity in circular
He further said that the party did not want to politicise the issue during the protest. Over NCP MP Supriya Sule's reservations on the name change, the AIMIM leader said that if the party really wants to protest, they should come and protest with them. “No MP in the history of Aurangabad has raised as many questions as I have raised so far,” he said over criticism that he has never raised any objection in the Lok Sabha regarding the name change.
“We have talked about this from time to time and since the session is starting from March 13, we will certainly present an anti-name change position in the Lok Sabha,” he said. Pertinently, the Union Home Ministry on February 23 approved the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively.
