Mumbai, Mar 27 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Monday told Bombay High Court that Aurangabad and Osmanabad were renamed Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively, due to history and not for political reasons.

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The government filed its affidavits in response to two public interest litigations challenging the decision to change the names of these cities. The petitions claimed the decision was politically motivated.

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The government in its affidavits denied the name change was being effected for any such reason as alleged in the petitions.

"The state government has complied with all the necessary procedures involved in effecting change of name. The decision to change the name of Osmanabad to Dharashiv neither leads to any religious and communal hatred nor creates any rift between religious groups," the state government said.

The affidavit said a majority of the people celebrated the name change.

The affidavit added that various records showed previously Osmanabad was known as Dharashiv.

"As per the story in Skand Puran, there was a devil in Dharashiv village namely Dharasur, who was killed by the goddess Saraswati. Due to this goddess Saraswati was known as Dharasur Mardini and the name of this village became Dharashiv. The village Dharashiv has been known as such from an ancient period," the government's affidavit said.

Justifying renaming Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar, the government said Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was a king reverently remembered for choosing his people and their beliefs and for sacrificing his life to protect the people.

During the hearing, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne was informed by Advocate General Birendra Saraf that the notifications changing the name of the two cities had been issued.

Saraf said the government had now issued draft notification for renaming the districts and village revenue divisions, and it was now at the stage of receiving objections.

When the petitioners sought for a stay on that process, Saraf explained the objection procedure was going to take about eight weeks and that there would no movement towards final notification at least for this period.

The court then said it would hear the petitions next month.

The Maharashtra government had last year approved the name of Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

On July 16, 2022, a Government Resolution was passed, which was forwarded to the Union government.

One petition filed by Aurangabad residents Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed, Annasaheb Khandare and Rajesh More challenged the government's decision to rename Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Another PIL was filed by 17 residents of Osmanabad against the government's decision to rename it as Dharashiv.

Both the petitions termed the government's decision as "politically motivated".

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