"How long will you fool people?": Congress MLA slams Maharashtra Govt over Islampur renaming

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 19 (ANI): Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh criticised the Maharashtra Government's decision to rename Islampur in Sangli district as Ishwarpur, saying that the focus should be on improving basic facilities like water, roads and public spaces.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Shaikh questioned how long the government would continue to fool people with such moves.
"Rename Islampur as Ishwarpur, do everything but besides this, also work for the welfare of the city. There is no proper drinking water facility or roads there. There are no gardens and playgrounds there. People are living in increasingly worse conditions. So, how long will you fool people like this?" he said.
Reacting to this, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said, "This government is only interested in creating casteism and conflicts."
Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) leader Jayant Patil also claimed that there were very few people behind the demand to rename Islampur as Ishwarpur.
"There were very few people who had been demanding this change for some years. This does not mean the locals wanted this, too," Patil said.
Meanwhile, leaders from the Mahayuti government defended the decision. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis maintained that the name change was a response to a long-standing public demand.
CM Fadnavis said, "Jayant Patil has raised concerns, which I understand. But the original and historic name of the place was Ishwarpur. It was a long-standing demand of the people, and as the government in power, we have acted upon it."
Supporting the decision, Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane said that a place named "Islampur" does not fit with what he described as India being a "Hindu nation."
"Today, CM Devendra Fadnavis has approved this decision. It was a long-standing demand of the people of that region...The name of a place in our country cannot be Islampur, where the majority of the people are Hindus. Is it Pakistan? This is a 'Hindu Rashtra' so the names of the places should be of Hindu ideology," he told ANI.
The Maharashtra Government on Friday announced that Islampur in Sangli district will be renamed Ishwarpur. The announcement was made in the state legislature on the last day of the monsoon session. (ANI)