NTR name for Hyderabad airport terminal irks T BJP netas too

HYDERABAD: The Telangana BJP is bracing for a showdown with the party's central leadership over the 'restoration' of N T Rama Rao's name to the domestic terminal at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad here, which is snowballing into a big fight between the ruling party and its key ally, the TDP.
Angry Telangana BJP leaders will write to the Centre against the civil aviation ministry's recent order to name the domestic terminal after the late NTR.They will press for rescinding of the order issued by aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, local leaders said.
"We are writing to our central leadership tomorrow to make our stand on the issue clear," said Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy, who has been protesting the order since Day 1. "We represent the people of Telangana and this is against their wish. Neither the name of NTR nor that of Rajiv Gandhi should be associated with the airport in Hyderabad," he quipped, trashing all concerns about this move rubbing its alliance partner, the TDP the wrong way. "Just because the minister (Raju) belongs to TDP and hails from Andhra Pradesh, he cannot glorify a leader who has nothing to do with Telangana. Had it been united AP, the order would still be justified," Kishan Reddy said.
Senior BJP leaders in Hyderabad said the move could also weaken the national party in Telangana. "That is exactly what we have told the central leadership in an internal communication recently," said a senior leader, on condition of anonymity. Lashing out at the TDP, he said that the party cannot take such decisions without consulting its ally.
NTR's name was associated with the city's airport in the past, when the facility was based in Begumpet. While it went by the name of Hyderabad International Airport then, the two terminals were named: N T Rama Rao Domestic Terminal and Rajiv Gandhi International Terminal. NTR's name was dropped when the airport moved to Shamshabad under the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's regime. The RGIA was inaugurated by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in March 2008.BJP national spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao, meanwhile, suggested that parties of Telangana should unite to get rid of Rajiv Gandhi's name from the Hyderabad airport. "If parties in Telangana are seriously aggrieved then they should not bother as much with NTR's name and instead concentrate on getting the name of the airport changed. They should suggest the name of some leader, perhaps like P V Narasimha Rao, a prominent personality of Telangana," Rao told TOI from New Delhi.Incidentally, Kishan Reddy's reaction came only hours after Union finance minister and senior BJP leader, Arun Jaitely, reiterated in the Rajya Sabha that NTR's name would continue to be associated with the domestic terminal. "Both N T Rama Rao and Rajiv Gandhi are respected leaders...The international airport in Hyderabad continues to be named after Rajiv Gandhi," he said, adding, "Domestic airport was originally named after NTR and that continues to be so."
Local leaders, however, chose to disagree. "The decision of the aviation ministry is sure to make the people of Telangana feel cheated. Also, technically, the decision is faulty as the concerns of the people of the region were not taken into consideration before passing the order," said Krishna Sagar Rao, official spokesperson of the Telangana BJP.
He, however, refused to confirm if the central leadership would take into account the displeasure of the party's local leaders and withhold the Union ministry's order. "These are administrative decisions," he said.