Ahmednagar will be changed to Ahilyanagar, declares CM Shinde
On the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar on Wednesday (May 31), the chief minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, declared that Ahmednagar would be renamed after her. The western Maharashtrian city will now be named Ahilyanagar.
CM Shinde to Media on Ahmednagar name change:
“The government has decided to name the district of Ahmednagar after Punyashlok Ahilya Devi Holkar.” Our administration has made an excellent decision.
Ahilya Devi’s work was as vast and magnificent as the Himalayas. Giving her name will boost the district’s honour,” Shinde told the reporters.
Who is Ahilyabai Holkar?
Ahilyabai Holkar emerged as a capable ruler of the Maratha Empire in the former Malwa region in the 18th century. She had made Maheshwar (in Madhya Pradesh) the Holkar dynasty’s seat.
During her reign, Ahilyabai is claimed to have worked for the welfare of people from all walks of life and established an example of effective government and administration.
The choice to rename Ahmednagar after Ahilyabai Holkar has political ramifications because the queen is adored by the Dhangar community, to which she and her father-in-law, Malharrao Holkar, belonged.
3rd city to get renamed in Shinde’s Govt:
BJP leader Gopichand Padalkar, a Dhangar community member, raised the desire to rename Ahmednagar.
This is the CM Shinde-led government’s third name change. In February, the government renamed Osmanabad Dharashiv and Aurangabad Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Surprisingly, the former Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was also renamed Aurangabad and Osmanabad.
The MVA government, however, fell apart after an intra-party uprising led by Eknath Shinde. After becoming CM, Shinde went on to draft a new plan for renaming the two cities.
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