RULING ALLIES Shiv Sena and Congress sparred Friday over the name of Aurangabad, where civic polls are slated to be held this year, with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray continuing to refer to the city as Sambhaji Nagar and saying that while the coalition’s agenda adheres to secularism, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb “does not fit into it”.
Responding to the Congress’s objection to him referring to Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar to honour the Maratha ruler, Thackeray told reporters: “Aurangzeb was not a secular person. While our agenda has the word secular in it, a person like Aurangazeb does not fit into it.”
Thackeray’s remarks assume significance with the Shiv Sena taking a different stance on secularism from its allies on this issue.
When it was pointed out that he had referred to Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar on his official Twitter handle over the past two days, Thackeray said: “What new thing have I done? I have done what we have been saying for over so many years and what the Shiv Sena supremo (Bal Thackeray) had said.”