Maharashtra Assembly clears proposal to rename Aurangabad airport

The Maharashtra Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution recommending to the Centre that the Aurangabad airportin the state be renamed as "Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport, Aurangabad".

It also passed a resolution to rename Mumbai central station here after the philanthropist Nana Shankarsheth.

The resolution to rename Aurangabad airport was moved by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and passed by a voice vote.

The state cabinet took the decision to rename the airport after Sambhaji, the elder son of iconic warrior king Shivaji, recently.

The decision was taken after the BJP tried to corner its former ally Shiv Sena by reminding it of its old demand to rename Aurangabad, a central Maharashtra city which derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, as Sambhajinagar.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Anil Parab moved another resolution, seeking to rename Mumbai central station in the city as "Nana ShankarshetMumbai Central Station".

Jagannath "Nana" Shankarshet was a famous 19th century philanthropist who played an important role in the infrastructure development in the city.

Opposition members were not present when Parab moved the resolution as they had staged a walk-out to protest againstDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's reply to the budget.

BJP MLAs Ashish Shelar and Sanjay Kutereturned to the House later. Shelar accused the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government of doing politics over renaming.

"We (the BJP government) at the Centre will approve the proposal to rename Aurangabad airport after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. (But) Why haven'tyou renamed Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar yet," he asked.

He also claimed that the proposal to rename Mumbai Central after Shankarshet had been introduced in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation more than a decade ago but the then government did not put it before the legislature.

Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu said the previous BJP-led government did not feel it necessary in the last fiveyears to table the resolution in the legislature.

Ajit Pawar and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil criticised the opposition for not being present in the House when the two resolutions were moved.

To which Yogesh Sagar of the BJP said the resolution on renaming of Mumbai Central was not listed on the agenda.

Speaker Nana Patole intervened, saying, "You (Sagar) wereon the panel of presiding officers earlier. Whenyou stage a walk-out, you go out and return to participate in the business listed next."

Eventually, the resolution was passed.