Aurangabad name change row: Uddhav says Aurangzeb was not secular, doesn't fit in secular agenda

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday elaborated on his tweet referring to Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar asking what was new in what he had done as Mughal emperor Aurangazeb was not secular and did not fit into the secular agenda.

Speaking to media when asked regarding the CMO tweet, Thackeray said, "What's new in what I have done on Twitter? Aurangzeb was not secular so Aurangzeb does not fit in the secular agenda."

Amid the ongoing tussle between Shiv Sena and Congress regarding the name change of Aurangabad, Thackeray in his official Twitter handle used the name Sambhaji Nagar instead of Aurangabad, and Congress warned him to avoid this name for the city.

A few days ago, amid a row over the name change of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar, the SP MLA Abu Azmi wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar urging them to stop politics around changing the name of Aurangabad.

"These days, politics is being played by changing the name of Aurangabad. If changing the name (of a city) helps in its development, then names must be changed. But in that case, Raigad should be named Sambhajinagar and Maharashtra be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who was an idol of the harmony between Hindus and Muslims," Azmi said in a letter written on January 5.

"Or, else, Maharashtra should be named Swarajya. If you are unable to do this, then stop these politics around changing the name of Aurangabad," he further wrote.

A controversy has broken out over the state government's plans to change the name of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar.

Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut made it clear that the Maharashtra government was clear on renaming the city after Sambhaji, the warrior son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

( With inputs from ANI )