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The Maharashtra Government has cleared a proposal to rename Islampur town in Sangli district as Ishwarpur. The decision was announced in the state Legislative Assembly on Friday, the last day of its Monsoon Session.
Speaking in the Assembly on Friday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the proposal will be forwarded to the Centre for final approval. “The power to change the names of cities and places lies with the Centre. The state Cabinet has approved the decision, and the proposal is being sent to the Union government,” he told the House. The resolution was approved during a Cabinet meeting held on Thursday.
The demand to rename Islampur was raised by Shiv Pratishthan, a Hindutva organisation led by Sambhaji Bhide. The group had submitted a memorandum to the Sangli Collectorate seeking the change. Bhide’s supporters had warned that they would not withdraw the campaign until the demand was met. A Shiv Sena leader from the area said the proposal was first raised in 1986.
The move to rechristen Islampur is the latest in a series of such moves undertaken by the state government. In 2022, the Maharashtra government approved the renaming of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv, both of which were later cleared by the Centre. In a major relief to the state government last year, the Bombay High Court dismissed a batch of petitions challenging notifications issued by the government officially renaming the two cities.
Another proposal to rename Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar, in honour of Ahilyabai Holkar, remains pending with the Union government.
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