External affairs minister S.M. Krishna, has pulled off something of a coup. His campaign to rename Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) as the Kempe Gowda International Airport has met with the Union government’s approval and it now needs only a Cabinet sanction for the BIA to go by its new name.
Mr Krishna, who received a phone call from civil aviation minister Ajit Singh informing him about his proposal going through, on Friday, told the Deccan Chronicle, “It's a moment of great pride.” Succeeding where the ruling BJP in Karnataka failed, letting the campaign to rename the airport after a prominent Vokkaliga leader slide as it got sidetracked by the infighting and many scandals in its ranks, the Congress has clearly sounded the battle cry as it prepares to fight its way back to power in the polls next year.
“We are hoping that the name will be changed before the end of June,” said an official of the ministry of external affairs, explaining that the matter would now go to the Secretary’s Office in New Delhi and further correspondence would be entered into with the Bengaluru airport. The Prime Minister too will be kept informed.
The question of name change has been hanging fire ever since BIA began operations in 2007. While several city organisations suggested the airport should be named after Bengaluru’s founder, Kempe Gowda, some recommended naming it after visionary, Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Mr Krishna himself wrote to the aviation ministry two months ago asking to name the airport after Kempe Gowda.
The BIA itself has not heard from the aviation ministry about the impending name change yet. “We’ll respect whatever decision the government takes,” said a BIA official.