Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar is set to be renamed Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced at an event on Wednesday.
The event was attended by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar, among others.
The city will be renamed Ahilyanagar after the Maratha warrior queen Ahilyabai Holkar — a development that came on the 298th birth anniversary of the 18th-century ruler of Malwa’s Holkar dynasty.
“Respecting the public demand, Ahmednagar will now be after Ahilyadevi Holkar,” CM Eknath Shinde said at a public rally organised in Chondi, Ahmednagar, PTI reported. He said, “This decision was taken by the state government. And I’m proud that both Devendra ji and I are a part of this historic moment.”
This is the third city in Maharashtra to be renamed in a year — this February, the state government formally approved a proposal to rename Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.
NCP state president and MLA Jayant Patil said, “We welcome the decision of the government to change the name of Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar. The popularity of the Shinde-Fadnavis government is decreasing day-by-day and people of the state are now aware of it. So, such decisions are being taken to increase popularity. We welcome the decision.”