Aditya or Vikram: How the naming of tiger cubs has sparked controversy in Maharashtra

A political uproar has taken place following a naming ceremony for tiger cubs in Maharashtra on Sunday after a chit apparently carrying the name ‘Aditya’ was taken back and replaced with another one. The event happened in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputy Ajit Pawar, and state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar were invited to a function to name two male and one female tiger cubs. While Opposition legislators attributed the name to Aaditya Thackeray, a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi administration, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde downplayed it, saying, “Two chits were drawn out simultaneously during the naming ceremony.” As a result, one chit was set aside. “There is nothing else to it.” We take a closer look at what happened. Aditya replaced by Vikram The Maharashtra ruling party’s leaders arrived for an event in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, on Sunday. During the ceremony, chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and state forest minister Mungantiwar were expected to pick chits to name two male and one female cubs. After Shinde took out one chit from a glass bowl, visuals of the event showed, Ajit Pawar was requested to pick a chit from another container. [caption id=“attachment_13136182” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The three cubs were finally named Shravani, Vikram and Kanha. Image Courtesy: @CMOMaharashtra/X[/caption] With a grin, Pawar showed the chit to someone. A voice in the background could then be heard saying “it’s Aditya” and suggesting that Pawar should go for another. Pawar picked a second chit and the name on it – Vikram – was read out. The three cubs were finally named Shravani, Vikram and Kanha. ‘Government is scared of Aditya’s name’ The chit apparently containing the name ‘Aditya’ gave a handle to Opposition leaders to slam the Shinde government. Opposition leaders attributed the name to Aaditya Thackeray, a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi administration, which collapsed last year following a revolt by current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, which resulted in an acrimonious split in the Shiv Sena. Leader of the opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve and Shiv Sena (UBT) said, “Whether from this world (referring to Aaditya Thackeray) or the sky (Sun is also called Aditya), no one can stop Aaditya. This government is even scared of his name,” he said. Shinde denies all allegations’ Speaking to the media later, Shinde downplayed a question on the naming row. “Two chits were pulled out simultaneously during the naming ceremony. Hence, one chit was kept aside. There is nothing more to this,” he said.

Mungantiwar said, “Such petty issues should not be discussed. A cub born in the wild cannot be named, but the one born here in the zoo gets a name. We are not scared of any Aditya.” Local MP and AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel sarcastically said there was no need to choose any other names for the cubs. “The cubs could have been named Devendra, Ajit and Eknath.” He called the episode “low level of politics”. “I do not want to make any further comment on this,” he added. With inputs from PTI