Madurai: Remarks by Madurai MP Su Venkatesan on civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia turning down many of the demands put forward by him and Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore in person to the minister at his office in Delhi on Tuesday have spared a strong debate between Scindia and Venkatesan in the social media.
Venkatesan tweeted quoting the minister as saying making Madurai the fourth international airport in Tamil Nadu is not justified since North Indian states have only one international airport. GST paid by TN last year is higher than those collectively paid by 21 states and Union territories,’ the tweet stated. It also marked the minister in the same, prompting the minister to respond to it the same night.
‘Shocked and disappointed by the gross misrepresentation of facts here,’ Scindia began his five tweets. Some states in both North (Uttar Pradesh) and South India (Kerala) have more than one international airports, he said and termed the MP’s statement baseless. Decision to grant international status depends on several factors like passenger demand and proximity to other international airports in the state, he stated.
“In fact, we aim at multiplying the current number of airports in India,” he said. Noting that international flights are already operational at the Madurai airport, the MP’s insistence over according international status is incomprehensible and contrary to the allegation, Scindia said and concluded that his ministry assured support to increase the number of international flights for Madurai by requesting Indian carriers to fly abroad from the city.
Venkatesan responded to the minister, saying that he shared with the media the minister’s efforts to operate flights to Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from Madurai and welcomed it. “We are committed to transparency and we did not hide any information in our media briefing,” he said and asked why the minister is shocked and what is false in his remarks?
The MP reiterated the minister’s refusal to make Madurai an international airport as TN already has three airports and several states in North India had only one. “He said that at least five chief ministers demanded a second international airport and their demands were still not met. Our question is: What is the problem in declaring Madurai as an international airport?” the MP asked.
23/12/21 MK Ananth/Times of India
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