Uddhav Thackeray says my own people betrayed me
Sena chief says he received support of Congress and NCP leaders
The Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved proposals to rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv. The Cabinet also gave its approval for the naming of the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late D.B. Patil.
In a sort of a farewell speech, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also thanked all his cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats of the respective departments for their cooperation and also sought pardon for any mistakes that he may have committed in his tenure of two and half years.
“The CM said that he received the support of
Congress and NCP, but his own people betrayed him. He said that all three parties came together and did good work in two and half years. He expressed his gratitude to all three parties,” senior NCP minister Jayant Patil said after
the meeting.
Thackeray held the cabinet meeting in person at Mantralaya after a long time.
A senior official said that the decisions taken in the meeting will have to be ratified in the next cabinet meeting.
The decisions to change the names of Aurangabad and Osmanabad have come amidst the pressure mounted on Thackeray by rebel MLAS who have alleged that the Shiv Sena chief compromised on Hindutva ideology to form a government with Congress and NCP.
For long, Sena has been demanding name change of the two cities. In fact, Sena mouthpiece Saamana always referred to the two cities as Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv. However, after coming to power, Thackeray had not persuaded the demand. In a public meeting addressed in Aurangabad last month, he had said that the name change was necessary.
Thackeray has also quelled the controversy over the naming of the Navi Mumbai airport. There was a proposal from the City and Industrial Development Corporation — the planning authority for Navi Mumbai — to name it after Bal Thackeray. But the locals had opposed it as they wanted late D.B. Patil’s name to be given.