Ahmednagar to be renamed as Ahilya Nagar: Maha CM Shinde
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Ahmednagar: Maharashtra's Ahmednagar is set to be renamed as Ahilya Nagar after the 18th-century ruler of the Indore state Ahilyadevi Holkar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced at an event in Ahmednagar on Wednesday.
Ahilya Nagar will be dedicated to Ahilyabai who was the queen of the Maratha Empire and was born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar district, he said.
Shinde was speaking at a function at Choundi in the district, the birthplace of Ahilyadevi (also known as Ahilya Bai), to mark her 298th birth anniversary, also celebrated as Ahilyabai Holkar Jayanti.
“Our government works keeping in mind the ideal of governance set by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ahilyadevi Holkar. Therefore, as per the wish of all of you, we have decided to rename (the district) for Ahilyadevi Holkar," Shinde said in his speech.
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The event was attended by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar among others.
Earlier, Fadnavis said at the function that he would request CM Shinde to rename Ahmednagar city as 'Ahilyanagar'.
Fadnavis said that had Ahilyadevi Holkar not been there, "there would not have been Kashi, temples of Lord Shiva." The ruling alliance of the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena was a "Hindutva government," he added.
The Deputy CM also noted that before this, the Shinde government renamed Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.
The city of Ahmednagar, 120 km northeast of Pune, is said to have derived its name from the 15th-century ruler Ahmad Nizam Shah.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been demanding the renaming of the Ahmednagar district since February after the government renamed Maharashtra's Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively.
