Aurangabad, Jan 4:
The proposal of renaming the historic city is like a hot cake for the politicians whenever the elections are around the corner. The tactic is not new to the citizens as the issue is in controversy for the past four decades. It is tossed in the air for political gains. No doubt, the issue had worked like a magic wand for Shiv Sena in Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) election as every time the party had won with a good majority. Now, Sena is in power in the state, therefore, the opposition parties are leaving no stone unturned to raise the issue for their political gains and trap Sena in all four corners.
Sena started to strengthen its roots here since 1980. The then party chief Balasaheb Thackeray had conducted several public gatherings and proclaimed renaming of the city. Hence to keep the issue fresh, Sena used it as a tool to excel in the AMC elections since 1988 (first election), by keeping it on its agenda. In the past, the AMC general body (GB) meeting passed the resolution of renaming the city on May 19, 1995 and was sent to the state government for action. Sena-BJP alliance had formed government in Maharashtra. As a result, the then chief minister Manohar Joshi handled the controversial issue. Former corporator Mushtaque Ahmed challenged the state government''s decision of renaming the city in the Supreme Court. Later on, the Apex Court stayed the renaming issue and Joshi had to withdraw the notification circulated in this regard. Later on, the AMC general body meeting passed the resolution again for the second time on January 4, 2011 and sent it to the state government for action.
The AMC elections probably may be held after a few months. Once again the issue has been dragged into the news for political gains. Controversy erupted after a digital board stating Super Sambhajinagar was put on display at T V Centre Chowk during the last month. This paved the way for the debate. BJP is trying its best to trap Sena from all four corners in its core issue. Congress is sharing power with Sena, but it is also strongly opposing the proposal, and AIMIM like every time is opposing the issue aggressively.