Accusing the Central Government of trying to impose its decisions on people of Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao strongly objected to renaming of domestic terminal of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
Speaking on the issue in State Legislative Assembly on Friday, KCR said what prompted the Central Government to rename the airport after former Chief Minister late NT Rama Rao. “There were two Prime Ministers from South – PV Narasimha Rao and HD Deve Gowda. There are many Telangana icons who deserve to be remembered through big projects. Bhagya Reddy Varma hailed from Telangana and was popularly called ‘Father of Dalit Movement”. There are many heroes of Telangana including Peddam Yellareddy, Kommaram Bheem, Ravi Narayan Reddy, Shaik Bandagi and many others. Of all these icons, why the Central Government chose only NTR, who hailed from Andhra?” he asked while adding that whether the Centre was proposing to name any project in other parts of the country after NTR.
The Chief Minister said that NTR was a great leader, but not an ideal for Telangana. He said that there would be no objection if entire Andhra Pradesh is named after NTR, but TRS would certainly oppose naming of any project after him in Telangana. He also defended the present name of the airport after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He said that Rajiv Gandhi was a national leader and he sacrificed his life for the country.
KCR said that the Centre should respect Telangana sentiments and withdraw its move to rename the domestic terminal after NTR. He said that the BJP Government should learn lessons from the Communist Party of India, which changed the name of its mouthpiece from ‘Vishaalandhra’ to ‘Mana Telangana’.
Describing it as sensitive issue, KCR alleged that the people of Telangana were not being allowed to breathe freely despite getting freedom from the Seemandhra rulers. He said that the State Government would resolve the issue with firm seriousness. On his advise, Speaker S Madhusudan Chary adjourned the House to convene the Business Advisory Committee meeting. As per the decision taken in the BAC meeting, the House later passed a resolution opposing the Centre’s move to rename RGIA’s domestic terminal. (INN)