New Delhi: Maharashtra state cabinet approved the renaming of Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Navi Mumbai Airport, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday. According to the report, Aurangabad will now be renamed as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad will be Dharashiv. The name of Navi Mumbai Airport will also be changed to DB Patil International Airport.
Earlier, the Shiv Sena leaders from Navi Mumbai and Raigad, who had gone to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with the demand to name the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) after local leader DB Patil on Tuesday, said that the CM said it was senior leader Eknath Shinde who had insisted on Bal Thackeray’s name.
The controversy over naming the international airport started almost two years back after CIDCO passed a resolution recommending Bal Thackeray’s name for the airport.
Since then, there have been several protests staged by the BJP leaders who accused Thackeray of insisting on his father’s name, while denying DB Patil the recognition for sacrificing his life for the welfare of the locals.
It is to be noted that the approval of name change comes just a day before the scheduled floor test that Uddhav’s government is set to face on the floor of the state Assembly at 11 am on Thursday.
The decisions, taken during a cabinet meeting held at 5pm on Wednesday, came even as the Supreme Court was in the process of hearing the MVA’s arguments in a petition challenging the decision of the Governor to call for a floor test even as the disqualification proceedings against 16 rebel Sena MLAs was pending before the top court.