Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet declares Aurangabad, Osmanabad name change after deeming Uddhav`s decision as `illegal`

Shinde and Fadnavis declared the decisions again as they claimed the earlier decision taken by former CM Uddhav Thackeray is now `illegal`.

Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis approved the decision to rename Aurangabad, Osmanabad and the Navi Mumbai International Airport, here on Saturday. Briefing the media after a cabinet meeting, Shinde said that Aurangabad will be renamed as `Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar` and Osmanabad shall be rechristened as `Dharashiv`.

The upcoming new international airport shall be renamed after D. B. Patil, a prominent leader from Konkan, he added.

These proposals shall be passed in the legislature and then sent to the Centre for its approval, the duo said.

The three decisions were taken by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in its final cabinet meeting before it fell on June 29.

Shinde-Fadnavis said that since those decisions were `illegal` as the previous government had been reduced to a minority, the same has been cleared again.

Shiv Sena leaders from Aurangabad, hailing the move, said that the credit for the renaming goes only to the late Balasaheb Thackeray.