india

Updated: Mar 02, 2020 13:51 IST

The Shiv Sena on Monday attacked Maharashtra BJP unit president Chandrakant Patil over his demand that Aurangabad be renamed Sambhaji Nagar and criticised the party for not changing it when it was in power in the State.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena mocked Patil and reminded him that Sena founder Bal Thackeray had publicly renamed Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar 25 years ago. The Sena accused the BJP of using issues of Veer Savarkar and the Maratha warrior king Shivaji merely for political gains.

The editorial said that Sena members are the descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrapati Sambhaji and asked the BJP its lineage. Attacking its former ally, the Sena that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath changed of Allahabad and Faizabad after coming to power but BJP could not rechristen Aurangabad despite being in power in Maharashtra and at the Centre.

“In Maharashtra, there is no meaning left in the behaviour and talk of BJP. Chandrakant Patil is also following the footsteps of Fadnavis in talking where it is not necessary. Now he has gone to Sambhaji Nagar and said: ‘We are the descendants of Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj and not Aurangzeb. Therefore, the name of Aurangabad must be changed’. In the last years, you had your government in Maharashtra as well as the Centre. Why could you not change the name of Aurangabad to ‘Sambhaji Nagar,” the editorial said.

Last week, Patil had asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government to officially change the name of the city. Patil was speaking in Aurangabad where civil polls are due next month.

The Sena slammed the BJP saying it is using issues such as Savarkar and Shivaji for political gains.

“Whether it is Sambhaji Nagar or Savarkar, these issues have been embraced by BJP just for the sake of politics. It was neither able to place one brick for the huge statue of Shivaji Maharaj nor did it give Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar... Since when did Chandrakant Patil become a historian? If he is so interested in digging up history, then he will realise that Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray had already renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar 25 years ago,” it said.