No dispute over naming Chandigarh airport after Saheed Bhagat Singh: Hooda

Clearing controversy hovering over the Chandigarh International Airport located in Mohali, Punjab, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday said that there should be no dispute now as incumbent Manohar Lal Khattar has made it clear that he has no objection in naming the airport as Saheed Bhagat Singh Airport.

"Today, I have read in newspapers that the Chief Minister too has also no objection, and now there should not be any dispute, it should be named as Saheed Bhagat Singh Airport, Chandigarh," he said.

Elaborating on the issue, Hooda said they had suggested during the time of construction that the airport should be named as International Airport, Chandigarh, but the Punjab Chief Minister wanted it to be named as International Airport, Mohali.

"The Chandigarh airport is an international airport, in which the Airport Authority of India is having 51 percent stake, while Punjab and Haryana are having 24.4 percent each. When it was being constructed, we had suggested that the airport should be named as International Airport, Chandigarh, but the Punjab Chief Minister wanted Chandigarh to be replaced with Mohali," he said.

"However, when the matter was not sorted out, I suggested naming the airport as Saheed Bhagat Singh airport, Chandigarh. The Punjab Chief Minister agreed to it, but again wanted to replace Chandigarh with Mohali," said Hooda.

"When the new dispensation came in Haryana, the Chief Minister wanted it to be named after Dr. Mangal Sein. Mangal Sein was a very good leader of the BJP and a well-known person. I used to respect him a lot. However, I told the government that if they want to honour Dr. Sein, they should initiate some other project like a university on his name, but replacing Bhagat Singh's name with Dr. Sein doest augur well," he added.