Renaming spree: Sambhaji Brigade seeks to rechristen Pune as Jijapur

According to a report in Pune Mirror, in a renaming spree, Sambhaji Brigade has issued a letter to the Maharashtra government on Monday, seeking to rechristen the city of Pune to ‘Jijapur’. Sambhaji Brigade is a Maratha outfit.

This demand from Sambhaji Brigade comes in the wake of Shiv Sena demanding that Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Khultabad in Marathwada area should be renamed to Sambhaji Nagar, Dharashiv and Ratnaprabha, respectively.

Speaking to the newspaper, Santosh Shinde, Pune district president of Sambhaji Brigade, said that the organisation will meet Pune district collector, Naval Kishore Ram, on Monday to submit an official letter of request.

According to the current trend of renaming spree, if the BJP led Maharashtra government approves the proposal, then Pune will be the latest city to be added to the list of 25 places that have been renamed in the last one year.

In October this year, the BJP-led UP government have renamed Allahabad to Prayagraj. Also, last week Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced that Faizabad will now be called Ayodhya.

Why the name ‘Jijapur’

As per the report in Pune Mirror, while explaining the nomenclature of the word Jijapur, Mr Santosh Shinde said, that the proposed name is based on the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s mother, Jijamata.

Santosh Shinde, also added, “She was a great visionary who ploughed the deserted Punawadi’s land in the 17th century with a golden plough, which is deemed to be the beginning of Pune’s prosperity.”

Mr Shinde further added, that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should not decline the proposal as BJP claims to be in power in Maharashtra with the blessings of warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Also read: BJP ministers on renaming spree