Aurangabad, Jul 11 (PTI) Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP Imtiaz Jaleel on Monday said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's claim that he was unaware of the move to rename the city as Sambhajinagar was "laughable".

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The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government under Uddav Thackeray approved proposals to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv in its last cabinet meeting on June 29.

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On Sunday, Pawar had told reporters the "renaming these places was not part of the common minimum programme of the MVA".

"I came to know only after the decision was taken. It was taken without prior consultation. Opinions were expressed by our people during the cabinet meeting over the proposal. But the decision was that of the (then) chief minister (Thackeray)," Pawar had said.

Jaleel, who is Maharashtra unit president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), hit out at Pawar on Monday.

"Pawar's statement that he did not know about the renaming proposal coming up at the cabinet meeting and that he found out only after it was passed is laughable. He is touring Aurangabad as a damage control exercise," Jaleel told reporters.

He said then NCP ministers Jayant Patil, Dhananjay Munde as well as Congress' Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat were present in the cabinet meeting but did not oppose the decision.

"Pawar knows the people of Aurangabad have not liked the renaming decision. That is why he has come her to clarify his party's stand," Jaleel added.

The AIMIM MP said one must not believe just Muslims are against the renaming, adding that his party's stand on the issue had the support of people from all religions.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)