Mumbai: After Aurangabad and Osmanabad, the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government is now considering renaming Ahmednagar district as Ahilyanagar after Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
Confirming the development, Maharashtra Cabinet minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who comes from Ahmednagar district, told ThePrint that, “it is under serious consideration.”
“We have to propose the plan to the cabinet and then to the central government. Cannot really put a timeline to this discussion, but we can do it even in this ongoing assembly session,” Vikhe Patil told ThePrint.
The campaign to rename Ahmednagar district after Ahilyabai Holkar was started by BJP leader and MLC Gopichand Padalkar, who, in 2022, reached out to Uddhav Thackeray, the then chief minister of Maharashtra, with his demand.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Ambadas Danve, leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, told ThePrint Tuesday, “We will have no problem if the name of Ahmednagar is changed. We will welcome it.”
Ahilyabai was born at Chondi in Ahmednagar district to a Dhangar family. She was one of the few women leaders of the medieval period — a pioneer who helped build hundreds of temples and dharamshalas across India.
Located in western Maharashtra, Ahmednagar has been a part of various kingdoms, including Rashtrakuta Dynasty, Western Chalukya, Delhi Sultanate and Bahmani Sultanate.
In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah became the Bahmani Sultanate’s prime minister and fought off an attempt by the king to dislodge him from power. He defeated the Bahmani army near Ahmednagar in May 1490. Finally, in 1494 he laid the foundation of a city close to where he defeated his rival, on the left bank of Sina River, and named it after himself — Ahmednagar.
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‘Strategy to polarise’
Last week, the Union government approved the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad — named after Islamic rulers Aurangzeb and Mir Osman Ali Khan — to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively. This was also the Shiv Sena’s demand since the times of Bal Thackeray in late 1980s.
The government’s decision did not go well with Imtiaz Jaleel, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP from Aurangabad, who Friday tweeted that “he will fight against such politics”.
“Aurangabad is, was and will always be our city. Now, wait for our show of strength for Aurangabad. A massive morcha for our beloved city! Get ready Aurangabadis to defeat these forces (BJP) playing politics in the name of our city. We condemn & we will fight,” Jaleel said.
But to some the Union government’s nod gave hope. Just a week later, BJP’s Padalkar made the formal demand to rename Ahmednagar on the first day of the Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature on Monday.
“It is the demand of supporters of Ahilya Devi Holkar that Ahmednagar be renamed as Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar. Soon the name will be changed,” Padalkar told reporters outside the Vidhan Bhavan.
On the same day, the Supreme Court came down heavily on BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay for filing a petition seeking to rename historical places, which he alleged was named after “barbaric invaders.”
Dismissing his petition, the apex court told Upadhyay: “You want to keep this as a live issue and keep the country on a boil? Fingers are pointed at a particular community. You run down a particular section of society. India is a secular state, this is a secular forum.”
According to Prakash Bal, a political analyst, such demands of name change are very old. “This leads to nothing but is just a strategy to polarise the society. And this is happening in the entire country, including now in Maharashtra,” he told ThePrint.
(This is an updated version of the report)
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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