Air India flight service to Ludhiana resumes; credit war takes off

Ludhiana: Air India today resumed its Delhi-Ludhiana service after a gap of over 10 years and the ruling Akali Dal and the Congress tried to seize the opportunity to claim credit for the achievement.
A flight landed at Sahnewal airport near here with Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress MP Manish Tewari on board.
Waving to people gathered to witness the event, Sukhbir said he was not here to enter into any credit war as the people themselves were wise enough to judge who was behind the success story.
Later addressing media he said, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had promised in its election manifesto to put Ludhiana and Bathinda on air map and he was satisfied that he has fulfilled it. Domestic flights would start operating from Bathinda shortly, he added.
However, terming the stand of Akalis on the issue as "biased", Congress asked SAD to learn the art of appreciating the Centre's initiatives on development front.
State Congress spokesman Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa said start of flight service between the national capital and Ludhiana, is due to concerted efforts by local MP Manish Tewari and civil aviation minister Praful Patel.
"The Akalis need to be generous in their approach towards Centre...Whatever good is done by the UPA for the benefit of Punjab needs to be appreciated cutting across party lines," he said.
There was passenger service in the sector until 1999, when it was stopped due to revenue deficit. Now, the service is resumed in both commercial and passenger service domains.
13/05/10 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports May 2010, NACIL May 2010