Aurangabad or Sambhajinagar: AMC polls will test the strength of Maha Vikas Aghadi

Uddhav Thackeray

The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine Maha Vikas Aghadi government has been in power in Maharashtra since November 2019, and so far, despite predictions of its imminent fall, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government has had a smooth run so far. However, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections which are due in April-May, could be a sticky point for the MVA partners.

Aurangabad is named after the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who camped in the city for a generation or more in his bid to subdue the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan. He was buried in the city as well.

It was here that Aurangzeb brutally tortured Sambhaji, the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and eventually killed him for not revealing the names of Mughal collaborators in his army.

The Shiv Sena has long wanted to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar.

Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray always felt a deep empathy towards Sambhaji, and in 1995, the Sena-BJP government led by Manohar Joshi passed a resolution to change the city’s name. However, the Supreme Court ordered a stay after Mushtaq Ahmed, then a corporator with the Congress, petitioned the court.

Soon the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government went out of power and the Democratic Front government led by Congress’ Vilasrao Deshmukh withdrew both the Cabinet notification and its affidavit in the Supreme Court.

Now, however, there is a change in political and electoral dynamics both in the city and in Maharashtra. Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehad Muslimeen (AIMIM) has replaced the Congress as the Shiv Sena's main rival in Aurangabad — its MP Imtiaz Jaleel defeated the Shiv Sena's five-time MP Chandrakant Khaire in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Moreover, the Congress and the Shiv Sena are now allies.

The BJP has spotted an opportunity here and this has led to much bickering between local level Shiv Sena and Congress leaders. That said, the top leaders of both the Shiv Sena or the BJP have been unable to explain why they could not rename the city between 2014 and 2019 when both the state and central governments were held by them — and they had control of the AMC.

At the 2016 civic elections, the Shiv Sena and the AIMIM were opponents in this city with a 30 percent Muslim population, with the Congress coming up a poor third.

The Shiv Sena is in a tight spot here: If it goes ahead with a name change, the AIMIM will succeed in labelling it anti-Muslim and play the Hindustan card. On the other hand, the BJP is putting it under pressure to uphold the regional and Hindu card.

Last week, NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stepped into the breach accusing the BJP of attempting mischief and denying that the MVA is likely to break on the issue. “Any name change will be effected in consensus after discussions between Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi,” he said.

The Shiv Sena has tried to appease the Congress and win back its favour by welcoming Rahul Gandhi's imminent return as Congress President. Describing Gandhi as the last man standing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the January 7 editorial in Shiv Sena’s Saamna read, “The BJP is simply afraid of him and that is why it tried to pour ridicule on the Gandhis but it is a good thing that Rahul Gandhi is returning as Congress President.”

Top leaders of the MVA have maintained a studied silence on the issue and there seems little time for more than electoral rhetoric on the issue. The three parties have indicated that they will contest all the local government elections in unison which rather cuts the BJP out of the picture as happened during recent polls to the legislative council. The BJP is hoping that the souring of ties between the Shiv Sena and the Congress might afford it an opportunity in Aurangabad.

The three allies are wary to upset their apple cart, but this sensitive issue could prove to be a minefield before the polls. It could be the biggest test of governance and electoral manoeuvring for the MVA. Ahmed is now with the NCP and the issue would not be without a fallout for the party. On the flip side, the BJP has little presence in Aurangabad and has been left with only one ally in the NDA — the Republican Party of India of the Ramdas Athawale faction, which draws much if its strength from Dalits and Muslims in the region, though Athawale has indicated he is not against the name change.

It is not going to be an easy task for any party. How well the MVA manages the contradiction will determine the future of its partnership.