Shiv Sena President and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday at the party’s Swabhiman rally said he has not forgotten the promise of his father and party supremo late Bal Thackeray that Aurangabad would be renamed as Sambhaji Nagar. At a well-attended rally, which was a counter to the BJP’s recently held Jan Akrosh rally at Aurangabad, Thackeray said the city will be renamed and he will do it.
However, Thackeray slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for not giving approval for renaming the Aurangabad airport after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. ‘’One and a half years ago, a resolution was passed by the state legislature and forwarded to the Centre. However, there has been no decision yet. I will not merely rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar but will transform the city which will make Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj proud of it,’’ he noted.
The BJP has been putting pressure on Thackeray to rename Aurangabad as it was a promise of late Balasaheb Thackeray. However, Shiv Sena, which is heading a coalition government in the state with the support from the Congress and NCP, is facing pushback from its partners.
Thackeray targeted BJP saying that ‘’Hindutva is in our every breathe.’’ He also dared the BJP to recite Hanuman Chalisa in Kashmir, where a spate of targeted killings of migrant workers and Kashmiri Pandits have taken place in the last few weeks.
"If you have the courage then go and recite Hanuman Chalisa in Kashmir," he said.
Thackeray also said that let there be an open debate in Mumbai on what Shiv Sena has done for Hindutva and what the BJP has done. He also raised the Nupur Sharma episode and said that due to a statement of a BJP spokesperson, the nation had to bear the humiliation.
Here in Maharashtra, he said the BJP is making issues about loudspeakers and other things.
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