Hyderabad: The resolution passed by the Telangana Legislative Council requested the Centre to maintain status quo on naming airports, making clear the objection of the state on the decision.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said, “This is very unnatural. Already there are demands to remove existing names. We also don’t know why they took the decision. They should have consulted us.”
However, he said that the government didn’t mean to dishonour NTR. Allies TD and BJP, however, differed on the naming of the airport with the TD supporting the Centre’s decision while the BJP opposing the decision to name the domestic terminal after NTR.
BJP state president G. Kishan Reddy opposed the Centre’s decision and said the airport should be named after a local stalwart like P.V. Narsimha Rao.
“Earlier, the Vajpayee government had named airports after local leaders,” Mr Kishan Reddy said.
TD leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao said, “If you want the domestic terminal not to be named after NTR, I suggest changing both names. The airport can be named after P.V. Narsimha Rao rather than Rajiv Gandhi,” he said.
However, he added, “You are sending resolutions to the Centre, making uncharitable comments against them on a daily basis. It is wrong.”
Mr Rao, however, clarified that the resolution was not confrontational but only a request. “We are only requesting them to maintain status quo. Later, we will sit with the Government of India and think about it,” he said.
