The Congress party, which has already been in a beleaguered state following its rout in the recent elections, is crying foul over the attempts of the Centre and the AP governments to change the name of Shamshabad airport as NTR Airport.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Ponnala Lakshmaiah today alleged that the Centre was trying to malign cordial atmosphere in the Telangana region by proposing to change the name of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport after NTR, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Ponnala said the proposal will disturb the sentiments of the region. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lakhsmaiah sought his intervention to prevent the name change. He took exception to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju saying they will change the name of the airport. “This is totally a meaningless idea to implement,” he alleged.
He also appealed to Modi to refrain from implementing the proposal. Right now, Shamshabad International Airport has become very popular with Rajiv Gandhi’s name, a former Prime Minister and changing the name with that of a former chief minister will not do justice, he felt.
If the Centre wants to protect the interests of Telugu people, the Prime Minister should direct his Cabinet colleague Ashok Gajapathi Raju to withdraw his proposal made in this regard. He said N Chandrababu Naidu, who will be taking oath as AP CM on June 8 has liberty to name any new airport after NTR.
“We have no objection for that but name change will flare up the sentiments among people of the two new States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh”, he said.
