Controversy over naming of Chandigarh airport uncalled for: Raju

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Tuesday said the controversy over the naming of Chandigarh international airport was uncalled for.

The issue was drawn into a controversy after the Haryana government objected to the Punjab government naming the new airport as 'Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh International Airport Mohali'.

"Punjab government had made a request and Haryana government has also made a request, and everybody feels that there is no need for a controversy... Shaheed Bhagat Singh is martyr of the country and not a small community.

"In that sense, I don't see a controversy but there is a procedure and it has to be followed," the minister said.

However, when the minister was asked if his statement can be taken as a yes for naming the airport after Bhagat Singh, Chandigarh MP Kiron Kher interceded and brushed aside the question.

"What's wrong with Chandigarh, why don't you like Chandigarh as the name of the airport?", Kher said in a lighter vein.

The Punjab government in 2017 demanded that the airport should be named as 'Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Shaheed Bhagat Singh International airport, Mohali' and also passed a resolution for the same in the Punjab Assembly.

Though the Haryana government had no objection over the use of Bhagat Singh's name, they have raised their concerns about the use of Mohali in the airport's name.