Ahmednagar Railway Station In Maharashtra Renamed As Ahilyanagar

Last Updated:September 12, 2025, 19:53 IST

Maharashtra renamed Ahmednagar railway station and district to Ahilyanagar, honoring Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar. Ajit Pawar thanked Amit Shah and Ashwini Vaishnaw for approval.

Ajit Pawar (PTI)

The Maharashtra government issued a notification renaming Ahmednagar railway station as Ahilyanagar railway station on Friday, following approval from the Union Home Ministry.

Earlier, the state government renamed the Ahmednagar district as Ahilyanagar district.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who had been advocating for the project, expressed his gratitude to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for approving the proposal.

A statement from Pawar’s office said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde were also part of the efforts.

Last month, Pawar had written to Vaishnaw urging that the station be renamed to match the city’s new name.

“This long-pending demand has now been fulfilled. The renaming holds special significance as we are celebrating the 300th birth anniversary year of Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar,” news agency PTI quoted Pawar as saying.

Several organisations and citizens had been urging that the railway station’s name be changed to reflect the city’s new name, Ahilyanagar.

Pawar also said efforts were underway to rename Aurangabad railway station as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar railway station.

Last year, Fadnavis had said that the process to rename Ahmednagar district as Ahilyanagar would be completed in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While addressing a public rally in 2024 in western Maharashtra in the presence of PM Modi, the BJP leader had said the state government has already decided to rename Ahmednagar district as Ahilyanagar in honour of a legendary 18th-century Maratha queen.

“The decision will be implemented in PM Modi’s third term,” he had told the gathering.

Maharani Ahilyadevi Holkar, the 18th-century queen of the Maratha-ruled Malwa kingdom in central India, was born in a village in this western Maharashtra district.

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