Raut Claims Navi Mumbai International Airport Would Be Named After PM Modi

Mumbai:A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Navi Mumbai international airport (NMIA), Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday triggered a row saying that the airport would be named after the PM himself and not after the late farmers’ leader DB Patil as demanded by the local people.

“Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the half-built airport on Wednesday. The BJP is opposed to naming the airport after DB Patil and there is a trend in the party that there is no need to name such a large international airport after him,” said Raut.

The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that there is a perception within the BJP to name the Navi Mumbai airport as ‘Narendra Modi International Airport.’

“There is a consensus in the BJP to name the airport in Navi Mumbai after Narendra Modi. Industrialist Gautam Adani has also demanded that the airport be identified after him or be named after Narendra Modi. Hence, the Navi Mumbai airport could not be named after DB Patil,” said Raut.

The NMIA is built under a Public-Private Partnership between Mumbai International Airport Ltd (a subsidiary of Gautam Adani-led Adani Airports Holdings Ltd) and CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd).

Taking a dig at the PM, Raut said that Modi is the thirteenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and there is no need to name the airport after him. “Prime Minister Modi had initially opposed naming the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad after him. Originally that stadium was named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. However, later it was named Narendra Modi Stadium and Modi inaugurated it. Therefore, his statements regarding the naming of Navi Mumbai Airport cannot be trusted,” he added.

It was the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray which first proposed that the Navi Mumbai airport be named after DB Patil, Raut said.

DB Patil was credited for ensuring that project-affected persons in the region received rightful compensation when the planned city of Navi Mumbai came up. The demand to name NMIA after him has been a decades-long movement, with the villagers forming the DB Patil Navi Mumbai Airport Naming All-Party Action Committee.

During his address in the inauguration ceremony, Modi referred to the facility only as the ‘Navi Mumbai International Airport’ without announcing DB Patil’s name for the airport. “Today I would also like to remember the great leader D B Patil, who toiled for farmers and remains an inspiration to all of us,” he said.

Chief Minister Fadnavis also acknowledged Patil’s contributions but stopped short of making any formal declaration.

Commenting on Raut’s criticism, BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban hit back at the Sena UBT leader that there was no need to name the Navi Mumbai airport after PM Modi as his name rules the hearts of 140 crore Indians.