Mumbai: The controversy over the naming of Navi Mumbai international airport, which is under construction, has intensified with a local group, in favour of the airport being named after socialist leader D B Patil, planning a protest outside the CIDCO office on June 24.
The group under the aegis of Navi Mumbai International Airport Namakaran Kruti Sameeti, which is backed by the BJP, are in favour of the airport being named after Patil, while the Shiv Sena wants it to be named after party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
The group has called for a gherao of the CIDCO office on June 24 to press for its demand. “We had approached the police requesting them to give permission; however, it was denied. We will still gherao the CIDCO office,” said Dashrat Patil, president of Akhil Agri Samaj Mandal and a member of the samiti.
Police have, however, warned the group against holding a protest. Group members said that they had received notices from the police under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In December, state urban development minister Eknath Shinde had written to CIDCO asking it to send a proposal of naming the airport after the late Sena supremo. The proposal was subsequently sanctioned in a CIDCO board meeting, while earlier this month, the state government also announced that the airport will be named after Bal Thackeray.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray weighed in on the controversy and said the airport should be named after Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji as the upcoming airport was just an extension of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
21/06/21 Vallabh Ozarkar/Indian Express
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