Won’t let BJP name Chandigarh airport after RSS man, say leaders
Tuesday, 22/12/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Patiala : Leaders cutting across party lines have protested the Haryana government’s proposal to name the Chandigarh international airport after Mangal Sein, an RSS leader and former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, instead of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Punjab has been campaigning actively to name the airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh for quite a few years.
Capt Amarinder, PPCC chief, criticised the move to name the airport after Sein. “This seems to be yet another step of the BJP to saffronise the country. The Congress will oppose this step tooth and nail,” he said.
He also condemned Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for his timid silence on the issue. Amarinder disclosed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s proposal to name the Chandigarh airport after Sein.
He said Punjab had a justified claim over the naming of the Chandigarh airport since the union territory belonged to it. “Instead of naming the airport after an RSS leader, whose only claim to fame is becoming the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana for two years, it must be named after some prominent freedom fighter like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who laid down his life for the freedom of the country,” said Amarinder.
Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi also protested the proposal to name the airport after Sein. “Shaheed Bhagat Singh laid down his life at the age of 23 to free the country. He is a youth icon and is widely respected. Naming the airport after him would go a long way in acknowledging his contribution to the nation. We will oppose the BJP’s move,” he said.
Senior SAD leaders claimed the matter was already being discussed with the Centre. The decision would be taken soon, they said.
