As the row over the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar continues to rage on, a wanton incident of vandalism has been reported from Satara. A banner bearing the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj at Powai Naka in Satara has been brought down and torn apart by unknown miscreants.
Still no outrage by NCP-CONG-SS supporters & so called chatrapati sambhaji maharaj premis on this incidence.
— आलू बोंडा (@ek_aalu_bonda) January 9, 2021
Agar yahi devendra ji CM rehte huye hota toh abtak resignation maang lete. https://t.co/JIJEXtcts9
A grade separator has been set up in Satara to reduce the congestion in traffic. The work of the separator was going on for the last three years. Rs 66 crores were spent on completing the project.
On Friday, the grade separator was inaugurated by MP Udayan Raje Bhosale. All the gates of the grade separators were named after different Chhatrapati Maratha kings. A sign carrying the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was put up on one of the entrances of the grade separator road.
Hours after the subway’s inauguration, its banner bearing Sambhaji Maharaj’s name vandalised
However, on Saturday morning, hours after the subway was inaugurated, commuters found the banner with the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj lying on the road, sundered apart. It is presumed that some unidentified vandals tore down a sign put up on the subway named after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje Bhosale on Friday night.
The incident of vandalism has created a stir in the region, with the supporters of Udayan Raje hitting the streets demanding action against the culprits. Besides, advocate Dattatreya Bunkar, Sangram Barge, corporators and activists of Satara Vikas Aghadi expressed their anger over the incident and urged the police to find and arrest the miscreants responsible for vandalising the banner.
The city police, on the other hand, has appealed people to maintain calm and pursue the matter legally instead of taking the law into their hands. The police have also launched a probe in the matter.
The raging controversy surrounding the renaming of Aurangabad to ‘Sambhaji Nagar’
A controversy was kicked up after the Shiv Sena, one of the parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Maharashtra government, dredged up the decades-old demand of renaming the city of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar. However, Shiv Sena’s alliance partner, Congress, opposed the demand, stating that it did not come under the ambit of the Common Minimum Programme(CMP) agreed upon by the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners.
The Shiv Sena, however, upped the ante, stating that the demand for the renaming of Aurangabad does not need to be in the CMP as it a popular demand and enjoys public support. It also published a scathing article in its mouthpiece Saamana wherein it remarked that Muslims in India do not regard Aurangzeb as their uncle and they would have no problems in renaming Aurangabad just like they had no issues with the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also jumped into the controversy, referring to Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar. The CM’s official Twitter account repeatedly referred to Aurangabad as ‘Sambhaji Nagar’. This invited a stiff retort from Congress, which pointed out the Maharashtra CM that he cannot change the official name in such an arbitrary manner. It also informed the Shiv Sena that they did not it does not have a majority to push through decisions.
Responding to the Congress’s objection to him referring to Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar to honour the Maratha ruler, Thackeray told reporters: “Aurangzeb was not a secular person. While our agenda has the word secular in it, a person like Aurangzeb does not fit into it.”